Probe into KZN man’s death at makeshift hospital
Hlengiwe Khumalo, whose father is said to have died of hypoxia at amakeshift hospital in Pietermaritzburg, has described her father’s death as inhumane.
Sibusiso Khumalo (67) died inside a structure made out of tent-like material in the parking lot of Northdale Hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning.
His daughter posted a video of the structure on Twitter on Monday evening.
This is Northdale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg. These are make shift shelters where they keep Covid19 patients. It’s a parking lot covered with tent like material on the sides. My father took his last breath here on Saturday at 2am. @kznhealth @DrZweliMkhize pic.twitter.com/EzTZF6a93K
— Hlengiwe Khumalo (@mamntungwa) August 3, 2020
She says her dad's symptoms started on Monday and he was told to go hospital.
"He couldn't walk anymore, so the security guards gave him a wheelchair. A nurse then started conducting a series of tests, which included a Covid-19 test.
"He then told her he is feeling cold, because it is cold in Pietermaritzburg, and she told him that there is nothing she can do about it.
She says her sister went to fetch a blanket from home.
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“By then he was given an oxygen mask. My siblings stayed with him until 11 at night. He was still in that structure at that time. They covered him with a blanket and then they left him. He died at 2am."
Khumalo says the family is still waiting on the Covid-19 test results.
"We are very distraught. It's extremely disheartening to think that, that is what my father went through.
"It was inhuman and I remember one Twitter user saying after seeing the video that it looked like something out of a war-zone. That's exactly what it looked like, it did not look like a place where a human being who is not feeling well should be kept."
The Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal has launched an investigation into the circumstances leading to Khumalo’s death.
