Colleagues of a nurse who was shot dead at Zithulele Hospital in Mqanduli on Christmas Day are so traumatised by the incident that they are too scared to go to work.
An employee at the hospital who recently transferred to another hospital said patients were also rattled after the attack on enrolled nursing assistant Namhla Ramncwana.
The Dispatch reported last week that the 37-year-old mother of three had been dragged out of a hospital ward by two armed men.
She was shot twice and died on the scene.
“Everyone is just traumatised, including patients,” the former staffer said.
They [nurses] are going to work, but they only go because they are employed to show up at work. Otherwise they don’t feel safe there any more
“They [nurses] are going to work, but they only go because they are employed to show up at work. Otherwise they don’t feel safe there any more.”
Eastern Cape police said no arrests had yet been made.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said the gunmen had allegedly said Ramncwana knew the patient they were looking for and while inquiring as to her whereabouts, they had spotted her in a ward and immediately dragged her outside.
She had transferred to Zithulele from St Lucy’s Hospital in Tsolo in 2018.
KSD municipal ward councillor in Mqanduli Masibusane Msakeni, who is also an ex-officio board member at Zithulele, said residents in the area were scared to go to the hospital.
“People have become anxious ... They shot her and walked out of that hospital undetected.”
Msakeni said they were shocked that Ramncwana’s killers had managed to get through the security checks.
Nkosi Mkhanyiseli Dudumayo, a traditional leader in Mqanduli, municipal councillor and Eastern Cape provincial Contralesa secretary, said he was disheartened by the incident and hoped Ramncwana’s killers would be caught soon.
He said he had been subjected to body searches when entering the hospital, so it was mind-boggling that gunmen could have entered without their firearms being noticed.
Denosa and Nehawu leaders in the province want CCTV cameras and metal detectors installed in public hospitals to curb attacks on nurses and patients.
The Dispatch has reported on several incidents where nurses and patients have been attacked inside health institutions in the province.
Nehawu provincial secretary Mlu Ncapayi said a nurse had been stabbed to death in a healthcare facility in Libode last year and a gang of criminals who had brought an injured friend to a hospital in Gqeberha threatened to harm the nurses unless they saved his life.
He said having security guards was not enough.
Denosa provincial chair Sivuyile Mange said guards were provided only with batons.
He said they wanted at least one guard armed with a gun.
Provincial health spokesperson Yonela Dekeda said the department could not provide any information regarding the Zithulele incident pending police investigations, but added that the department had started with a plan to reinforce security in all hospitals and clinics.
She said electronic security systems would be installed in health facilities based on threat analysis reports.
“At Zithulele, we have prioritised the wellbeing of traumatised staff.
“Safety in our facilities is complex and linked to external threats and general crime trends in the nearby communities,” she said.
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