Latest news with #MpumalangaHighCourt
IOL News
3 days ago
- Health
- IOL News
Mpumalanga mother awarded R540,000 after negligence leads to child's cerebral palsy
The mother of a little boy born with cerebral palsy, who was in a wheel chair up to his death at six-years-old, will get R540 000 in damages from the health authorities. Image: File The Mpumalanga MEC for Health has to pay a mother R540,000 in damages after her baby boy was born with cerebral palsy due to the negligence of the staff at a government hospital in the province. The mother initially claimed R4 million in damages before the Mpumalanga High Court, which was sitting in Mbombela. Her child had, meanwhile, died at the age of six, and the mother only claimed general damages on behalf of herself for the hardships she had to endure while looking after the child until his death. The court earlier ruled that the provincial health authority was liable for 90% of the damages the mother could prove she had suffered. The mother blamed the fact that her son was born with brain damage on the negligence of the medical personnel at the Embhuleni hospital. It was found that the negligence culminated in the child developing cerebral palsy due to a lack of oxygen at birth. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The mother was admitted to the hospital in February 2017 to deliver her baby. Following her admission to the hospital, the plaintiff endured prolonged hours of labour. The result was that the then-unborn baby suffered foetal distress and brain injury, as a result of which he suffered permanent brain damage, disability, and cerebral palsy. In determining the amount of damages payable to her, various experts, including a specialist physician, a neurosurgeon, a physiotherapist, and an occupational therapist, gave their inputs to the court. The experts saw the child when he was five, a year before his death. It was noted that he could not communicate, and he was multi-disabled with severe intellectual impairment. He was unable to move independently, had to be fed by others, and was incontinent. The child was unable to lift his head when placed in a prone position. He could not sit, stand, crawl, or roll, and he was wheelchair-bound.
The Citizen
30-05-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Mother accuses Mpumalanga hospital of sabotage in medical negligence case
The mother alleges her child suffered permanent brain damage due to negligence, and that the state is now withholding crucial records. A Mpumalanga woman, whose child suffered brain damage due to a nurse's alleged negligence, is accusing the institution of refusing to release medical records to sabotage the investigation. Nokuthula Mkhabela from Pienaar outside Mbombela said the management of Rob Ferreira Hospital and the doctor who attended to her child refused to give her and her lawyers the child's file. Mkhabela said she started demanding the medical records in 2019, when launching a medical negligence case against the institution. Lawyers drop Mkhabela's case 'The reason I decided to go to the media now is because my lawyers and I have tried in vain to get the information. 'Every time we went there we were told the file has been misplaced. Two legal representatives have withdrawn, saying they cannot represent me since we are failing to get the medical record. 'To show that the Department of Health and the management of the hospital are sabotaging my case – early this month I received an e-mail from my lawyers notifying me they would no longer represent me as the health department had offered them money to represent them against me. 'They then referred me to another law firm, which also dumped my case, saying they couldn't assist me with the medical records.' She said the lawyer withdrew just a few days before the matter could be heard in the Mpumalanga High Court. A medical emergency with devastating consequences Mkhabela said her baby, Anathi, was healthy until the incident that left her unable to speak and wheelchair-bound. In July 2015, the child had diarrhoea and was rushed to hospital, she said. They waited for hours and later, when the child had more complications, they were taken to intensive care. ALSO READ: 'Monument of corruption': More suspects in court for Kimberley mental hospital scandal 'After a few hours I went inside and found there was a drip connected to her head. They told me that they could not locate the veins on the legs or hands, that's why they opted for the head. At the time she looked okay. 'We spoke but after some minutes the child was unable to speak and they removed the drip and connected it to her hand. When I asked the doctor, I was told that water had entered the brain.' She said the child was taken to a private hospital in Mbombela where doctors tried to drain the water from her head but it did not help. 'R100 000 debt' 'Now we are in R100 000 debt. I need the department to be held accountable and compensate my daughter for the damage they have caused.' The Citizen has seen a letter a law firm sent to Mkhabela informing her that they were now representing the department against her. Department spokesperson Dumisane Malamule refused to comment, saying the matter was in court. 'We are being sabotaged' Tony Mathe, a lawyer from Marweshe Attorneys, has also accused the department of sabotaging investigations into medical negligence. 'We have been waiting for medical records from the department. It appears they are deliberately avoiding compliance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act application we did on behalf of our clients. 'It appears we are being sabotaged so we don't proceed with lawsuits against the department.' NOW READ: UPDATE: Two premature babies abducted from hospital found [Watch]
IOL News
21-05-2025
- IOL News
Hawks seize luxury home and cars linked to R5 million PPE fraud
The head of the Hawks in Mpumalanga, Major General Nico Gerber, said law enforcement is determined to recover public funds lost through corruption. The Hawks have swooped in on assets worth over R2.5 million linked to a former senior Mpumalanga health department official accused of pocketing millions through a fraudulent personal protective equipment (PPE) deal during the Covid-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, the Mpumalanga High Court in Mbombela granted the elite crime-fighting unit a preservation order to seize a house in the upscale suburb of Sunninghill, Johannesburg, and three vehicles — a Toyota Quantum, a Hyundai truck, and a VW Golf — all believed to have been bought using money from the dodgy deal. The seized home is valued at R1.5 million, while the vehicles are collectively worth around R1 million. The case is part of a wider investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into PPE corruption, which has uncovered that R13.3 billion out of the R30.7 billion spent by the government during the pandemic is under scrutiny for irregularities. According to police, the corruption traces back to 2020, at the height of the pandemic, when emergency procurement led to irregular PPE tenders. One such deal involved a R5 million contract in which payments were made, but the goods were either never delivered or grossly overpriced. Investigators from the Hawks revealed that after one such payment, a residential property worth R1.5 million was purchased in Barberton, Mpumalanga. The property was registered under a company named Zanderson Establishment, whose sole director was Yolanda Sanderson, daughter of the former health department secretary, Sanele Sanderson.
IOL News
20-05-2025
- IOL News
Mpumalanga High Court invalidates hastily signed will due to missing witnesses
The Mpumalanga High Court once again stressed how important it is to follow the law in signing a will. The court rejected such a document as it was not signed by two witnesses, in the presence of each other. Image: File A will signed in haste from a hospital bed during the Covid-19 pandemic was rejected by the Mpumalanga High Court as not being valid, as it was not signed in the presence of two witnesses, as required by law. The devastating impact of the pandemic and all the sad memories it left behind came back to life in the facts of this application, Deputy Judge President Takalani Ratshibvumo remarked in his judgment. Patrick Reniers (the deceased) and his wife of 15 years, Francina Reniers (the first respondent), came face to face with death when they both contracted the virus. The deceased was immediately admitted to Mediclinic Hospital, Mbombela, but his wife was not so lucky, as there were no more beds available. She resorted to self-medication at home, and she lived, while her husband succumbed to the virus while in the hospital. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Before his death, the deceased and his wife saw the devastating consequences of contracting the virus from all those that surrounded them and came to terms with the real possibility that they might not survive. They then decided to write a joint will. Their financial advisor was asked to draft a will for them, and he told her to see to it that she and her husband signed it in the presence of two witnesses. The wife asked her broker to take it to the hospital so that her husband could sign it. He took the document to Mediclinic Hospital, where, following a lengthy process, he was finally allowed into a hospital ward where the deceased was being kept alone, under oxygen supply. Once inside, he handed over the three-page document and a pen to the deceased, who signed all the pages without reading and handed it back to him. The broker then added his signature to the document, and the broker's wife, later at home, signed it as the second witness. While the Master's Office accepted the will, a daughter of the deceased from his first marriage was aggrieved as she was completely left out of inheriting anything. She found it hard to accept that her father would bequeath nothing to her or any of his children, whereas in his former will, he had all his children as his beneficiaries. She was also concerned about various inaccuracies in the will, including that he and his second wife were married out of community of property, with the accrual. The daughter stated that this was not the case. She also questioned why some of his grandchildren's names were misspelled on the document. The wife, however, made it out to be typing errors. The court pointed out that, in terms of the law, a signature must be made by the testator in the presence of two or more competent witnesses at the same time, which did not happen here. 'The undisputed facts of this case are to the effect that neither the deceased nor the first respondent (wife) signed the will in the presence of the two witnesses… This leaves the will non-compliant with the formalities,' the judge said in declaring the will invalid.
