Africa-Press – South-Africa. Critically ill patients at Bongani Regional Hospital in Welkom had to be moved to nearby private hospitals in the early hours of Friday when the hospital was left without power due to cable theft.
Just after 00:30, provincial health officials were told that an electricity feeder cable to the hospital in Welkom had been stolen, department spokesperson Mondli Mvambi said.
“The hospital management took urgent and drastic measures to transfer patients who are under critical care to the nearby private hospitals,” he added.
He said the department was “working hard with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the situation is brought under control”.
Free State Health MEC Montseng Tsiu added: “Our community needs to work with government to ensure that criminals do not take over and kill vital services, such as health and all those that are vital to human development. The Department of Health condemns these acts of criminality and vandalism in the strongest terms.”
Tau said the cable was replaced on Friday morning and that the department was working to restore critical health services.
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