By Lungani Zungu
Thandazile Mkhize is terminally ill and can barely walk. Yet, she was told by nurses at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial in eThekwini to fetch water from a tank outside the hospital.
Since Friday, patients — including those gravely ill and pregnant women — have been forced to drag themselves out of their sickbeds and fetch water from the water tanks on the premises of the hospital.
This is likely to be the order of the day for the rest of the week. Municipal workers are repairing a burst pipe that supplies the hospital and other areas — such as the nearby Glebelands hostel — with water.
Mkhize’s daughter Nonhlanhla told Scrolla.Africa: “I don’t know how they think my mom will be able to walk to the tanks that are far from her ward with a wound on her leg. What is happening at the hospital is inhumane and heartless.”
Her 55-year-old mother was admitted in November after her health deteriorated.
“I have now decided to hire people to send her water every day when I am at work. If I had money, I’d have taken her to a private hospital already,” said Nonhlanhla, and sighed heavily.
Scrolla.Africa visited the hospital on Wednesday after a public outcry over the shortage of water at the Umlazi-based hospital — one of the biggest in KwaZulu-Natal.
Along the hallway, visibly frail patients and pregnant women carried bucket loads of water en route to their wards.
Scrolla.Africa was barred from taking pictures inside the hospital.
The hospital has 1,075 beds and services southern Durban areas such as Umlazi, Isipingo, Folweni and Makhutha.
Workers’ unions such as Nehawu and the Public Servants Association (PSA) have threatened to recall their members until water is restored at the hospital.
A handful of PSA members held a protest outside the gate of the hospital on Wednesday.
As patients scramble for water, eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said the supply would likely be restored in two days.
He said municipal workers are on site repairing the burst pipe.
“We would continue to provide water to the hospital through the tankers that are in the hospital premises until this is fixed, which would take about two days,” said Kaunda.
Pictured above: A pregnant woman fetching water from a tank as taps run dry in Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital
Image source: Supplied
