Cape Town - The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) has called for healthcare workers to be relocated amid fears for their safety.
This comes as members of the community in Motherwell demand the reopening of the Thanduxolo Clinic.
This call comes after the death of 15-year-old Zenixole Vena, who was reportedly raped and assaulted by unknown men, but was allegedly “chased away” by staff.
Speaking to IOL, Eastern Cape Denosa provincial secretary, Veli Sinqana, said they were aware of the calls from the community members and the closing of health facilities was against health service deliveries.
“The relocation we are referring to is for temporary measures, so that the community and the department can amend the situation and make it amicable.’’
He added that they were protecting employees, hence the call for the department to pay attention to this matter before it gets out of hand.
“It is also our desire to see these facilities operating, but it is our responsibility to look after the safety of the workers and the rights of patients because it is the department which is supposed to be doing that,” said Sinqana.
He also clarified on the matter that was widely circulating on social media that the young Vena was chased away by the staff clinic saying: “A patient is not chased away, instead it is referred, and there are more protocols that need to be followed.
“We need to have a proper investigation as to what really transpired and to use the term such as ‘chased away’ sounds harsh.”
He said everything was currently under investigation to establish the cause of death and they were not defending anyone.
“We are strongly of the view that no one was chased way, allow the process of investigation unfold.”