Grieving family considers suing Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital after patient burns to death

A general view of George Mukhari Academic Hospital on June 12, 2020 in Pretoria, South Africa. It is reported that the Gauteng Department of Health revealed that at least 15 staff members at the hospital have tested positive for novel coronavirus. (Photo by Gallo Images/Lefty Shivambu)

By Nonkululeko Njilo

26 Jun 2024

The heartbroken family of a 35-year-old mental healthcare patient who died from burn injuries after being placed in a seclusion room at the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, northern Pretoria, is considering legal action.

Hours before her death, Lerato Mohlamme called her mother pleading to be removed from the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, citing ill-treatment.

She was admitted on Thursday, 20 June, and on Monday, 24 June, died in a fire that engulfed a section of the hospital.

The 35-year-old mental health patient from Makau in Ga-Rankuwa had been placed in a seclusion room as part of her prescribed treatment, according to Gauteng provincial health spokesperson Motalatale Modiba.

The fire broke out in the seclusion room.

“Immediate actions were taken to safeguard the safety and wellbeing of patients. The fire was quickly contained and extinguished by the fire brigade, but unfortunately the patient in the seclusion room sustained fatal injuries,” said Modiba.

The 17 other patients in the unit were evacuated and temporarily relocated to a different wing of the psychiatric department.

The Mohlamme family is considering suing the hospital should it not take full responsibility.

Lerato’s mother, Pinky Mohlamme. (Photo: Supplied)

“Their negligence has caused us so much pain. We are deeply hurt, traumatised and with a lot of questions which have not been answered,” Lerato’s mother, Pinky, told Daily Maverick.

“Why was she left alone to burn to death? Why was she treated like a dog? Perhaps she would still be alive if they did not lock her up.

“I did not send my daughter to hospital for her to be killed. The hospital must take full responsibility and assist us with the burial. We were not expecting this, and I do not have any money to bury her.”

The hospital’s CEO, Dr Fhatuwani Mbara, told Newzroom Afrika that Lerato Mohlamme “was quite aggressive — mentally, she was not stable. So, we did everything in our power to assist her.”

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital on 12 June 2020 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo: Gallo Images / Lefty Shivambu)

The hospital’s chief director of occupational health and safety, Dr Sipho Senabe, said a committee would be set up to investigate the fire.

Mohlamme’s family said she was kind, peaceful and fond of her two children, aged six and seven.

“There is nothing she would not do for children; she enjoyed assisting them with homework and just playing around with them.”

Both Mohlamme’s children have been informed about her death, but they are still in disbelief. One of them reportedly asked, “Everyone is here, only my mom is missing — when is she coming from hospital?”

“Who will raise these children now, because I am too old?” asked Mohlamme’s mother.

Her sister Molebogeng said: “We are in deep pain. We cannot bury my sister without all the answers. We need to know what happened because the condition in which her body was in was too heartbreaking.”

Mohlamme had graduated with a diploma in marketing and her last job was as an assistant at an old age home.

Fire extinguishers

City of Tshwane Emergency Services spokesperson Thabo Mabaso said firefighters arrived on the scene to find that hospital staff had already extinguished the fire using portable fire extinguishers.

“A female patient aged 35 suffered burns inside the ward and, unfortunately, lost her life. She was declared dead by a medical doctor on the scene,” said Mabaso.

In January, Daily Maverick reported that patients had died at the hospital because vital CT scans could not be done as machines had broken down and management had failed to renew maintenance contracts.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Doctor blows whistle on CT scanner disaster at major state hospital

The EFF has expressed concern about the conditions at the psychiatric ward.

“Overcrowding, inadequate bedding and patients forced to sleep on the floor due to resources shortage are troubling signs of systemic failures and a disregard for human rights,” said the EFF’s provincial chairperson, Nkululeko Dunga. DM

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