Chairperson, Cope is extremely concerned about safety and security in South Africa's public health facilities. This week it was reported that a doctor in Mpumalanga was stabbed by a patient whilst he was on duty. Violence and injury are a pandemic - this is a concern that affects all South Africans. The fact that a person has again been stabbed and killed in a public health facility is tragic. Cope raised this specific concern during the Health budget debate, but the ANC told us that we were raising provincial issues.
Health personnel and patients at public hospitals across the country are subjected to armed robberies, murder and rape. At the Dr J S Moroka Hospital in Thaba Nchu the security is more of a gatekeeper than security. Cope believes that hired security companies are responsible for security in public hospitals; they have a duty to provide quality service. Also, the hospitals' CEOs must be held responsible and be accountable for the security at their own institutions, not the MECs or the Minister.
To the ANC, the issue of security in hospitals is merely a political gimmick, but to Cope and all other South Africans it is a matter of life and death. Accountability must be ensured, especially when it comes to the safety of our citizens.
Our sincerest condolences go to the Mkhize family who are the latest victims of these tragedies in our public health system. To the ANC, this is a bit of a joke ... [Time expired.]