{"id":3099,"date":"2021-01-25T20:06:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T20:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=3099"},"modified":"2021-01-25T17:13:58","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T17:13:58","slug":"nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours","title":{"rendered":"Nurse recalls Jackson Mthembu\u2019s last hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Nhlanhla Mbatha<\/p>\n

Johannesburg – Sister Mavis Mahlakoane on Sunday described the 18-and-a-half hours she spent with Minister Jackson Mthembu at Milpark Hospital, where the minister succumbed to Covid-19-related complications on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Mthembu, the Minister in the Presidency, was buried in his hometown of eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, on Sunday, in a state funeral attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who gave the eulogy, Deputy President David Mabuza and other government and ANC heavyweights.<\/p>\n

Mahlakoane said Mthembu was admitted to hospital on Tuesday, January 19. The next day, she was assigned to room 3 where Mthembu was being treated. \u201cMost nurses were scared to nurse him, saying there\u2019s a VIP patient.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn entering his room, I introduced myself. He was very calm as he greeted and welcomed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahlakoane said she spent most of Wednesday by his bed side. Despite his status he was not a \u201cdo-you-know-who-I-am\u201d kind of a patient. \u201cHe was such a kind person; full of ubuntu.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahlakoane said she asked the minister what he\u2019d like for breakfast, lunch and supper, but he politely declined: \u201cMy wife will bring me food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, she brought him food, which included fruit salad and cheese.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had several conversations with the minister. It was like we had known each other for long; like we were friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe showed me videos on his cellphone of Bheki Cele (police minister) dancing. We laughed. He said when he comes out of hospital he\u2019d show Cele how to dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later that day, the minister showed his empathic side and asked the nursing sister if she was not tired running up and down. \u201cTata, that\u2019s how I referred to him after he had politely asked me to stop calling him minister, told me to go have some tea and rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said the PPE (personal protective equipment) I was wearing must be hot and wearing me down. He also thanked me and all the health workers in general for helping heal the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahlakoane said that at around 5pm the minister asked for his phone, saying \u201cthere is only one person who understands me better \u2013 Cyril\u201d.\u201cHe went on to say \u2019Cyril will be disappointed\u2019.\u201d Mahlakoane said she did not understand why the minister would say Cyril will be disappointed.<\/p>\n

Just before 7pm as she was to end her shift, Mthembu asked that we pray, as we did earlier with his wife, and he then wished me a safe journey home.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next morning, Thursday, January 21, Mahlakoane went to see her patient. \u201cWhen I enquired how he was feeling, he just said \u2018kunzima\u2019 (it\u2019s difficult). He said he was feeling cold because of the oxygen machine. I felt his body was cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

The minister, she said, also complained of a sore throat. \u201cI asked him if I could make him a warm black rooibos tea, and he thanked me profusely.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden his condition appeared to deteriorate. I immediately asked him to put on his oxygen machine. I called the sister-in-charge and the doctor. They arrived immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctor informed uTata that he was going to put him on NIV (non-invasive ventilator). He made him try it, but the minister politely declined, saying it was uncomfortable. The doctor then suggested the insertion of a pipe through Tata\u2019s throat to assist the lungs with breathing. Tata agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe immediately assembled a specialist team, including our anaesthetist Dr Rudolph Mononyane. We incubated uTata, and Dr Mononyane had to rush to KwaZulu-Natal where another patient needed attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly that was the last time the hospital would see Dr Mononyane. The Netcare 911 rescue helicopter he was in crashed in the province, killing him and his four colleagues instantly. Meanwhile, in Gauteng, the team battled to save Minister Mthembu\u2019s life as they watched it ebb away. \u201cWe tried everything. But he just went down, and down,\u201d Mahlakoane said in a soft, low voice.<\/p>\n

The Star<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Nhlanhla Mbatha Johannesburg – Sister Mavis Mahlakoane on Sunday described the 18-and-a-half hours she spent with Minister Jackson Mthembu at Milpark Hospital, where the minister succumbed to Covid-19-related complications on Thursday. Mthembu, the Minister in the Presidency, was buried in his hometown of eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, on Sunday, in a state funeral attended […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-3099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nNurse recalls Jackson Mthembu\u2019s last hours - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nhlanhla Mbatha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nurse recalls Jackson Mthembu\u2019s last hours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nhlanhla Mbatha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-25T20:06:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/01\/img-600efc36a97bd.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Nurse recalls Jackson Mthembu\u2019s last hours\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-25T20:06:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours\"},\"wordCount\":659,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/01\/img-600efc36a97bd.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nurse-recalls-jackson-mthembus-last-hours\",\"name\":\"Nurse recalls Jackson Mthembu\u2019s last hours - 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