The foreign woman who gave birth at Johannesburg’s bustling Park Station was a victim of rude and unacceptable behaviour from some nurses but had not been turned away from state hospitals due to xenophobic reasons.
This was disclosed in parliament by health minister Aaron Motsoaledi during his meeting with the health portfolio committee.
Initial reports last week suggested that Francine Ngalula Kalala‚ from the Democratic Republic of Congo‚ had been turned away from the Tshwane District and Steve Biko memorial hospitals because she was an asylum seeker.
She had also been turned away from the Charlotte Maxeke hospitial in Johannesburg apparently for the same reason after the birth of the baby now named Emmanuella.
Motsoaledi said the story claiming the woman had been turned away for xenophobic reasons was written to “exert maximum reputational damage“.
He told MPs that his investigations had shown that the woman had never gone to Steve Biko hospital and that she herself had confirmed this.
She had gone to the Tswhane district hospital‚ where she was treated rudely by a nurse and then decided to go to Edenvale hospital where she had given birth before and had found the treatment she had previously received there to be more satisfactory.
CCTV footage from the Tshwane district hospital shows the woman leaving about 40 minutes after arriving on June 1.
Motsoaledi said while this “very poor attitude” was problematic‚ it was not indicative of a wider presence of xenophobic attitudes in the South African health care service.
It was on her way to Edenvale via the Gautrain‚ that she gave birth in Park Station.
“Nobody should deliver in Park Station. It is very wrong‚” he admitted.
Motsoaledi said that from there‚ emergency medical services had taken her to Charlotte Maxeke where she was attended to by an advanced midwife and the baby placed in a baby heater. Because both she and the baby were healthy and the birth was deemed to be “normal“‚ she was “stepped down” to Hillbrow hospital for the mandatory six hour observation period.
Motsoaledi said South African hospitals routinely helped foreign nationals‚ whether they were asylum seekers or undocumented.
Of the 3‚598 births at Charlotte Maxeke between January and May‚ 1‚691 of these had been foreign women.
At the Tswhane hospital‚ 106 of the 300-odd births in May had been foreign women.
Motsoaledi said he had instructed the CEO of Tshwane district hospital to “follow procedures” to ensure that the staff member with the poor attitude was reprimanded.
DRC woman who gave birth at Park Station not turned away from hospitals for xenophobic reasons: health minister
The foreign woman who gave birth at Johannesburg’s bustling Park Station was a victim of rude and unacceptable behaviour from some nurses but had not been turned away from state hospitals due to xenophobic reasons.
This was disclosed in parliament by health minister Aaron Motsoaledi during his meeting with the health portfolio committee.
Initial reports last week suggested that Francine Ngalula Kalala‚ from the Democratic Republic of Congo‚ had been turned away from the Tshwane District and Steve Biko memorial hospitals because she was an asylum seeker.
She had also been turned away from the Charlotte Maxeke hospitial in Johannesburg apparently for the same reason after the birth of the baby now named Emmanuella.
Motsoaledi said the story claiming the woman had been turned away for xenophobic reasons was written to “exert maximum reputational damage“.
He told MPs that his investigations had shown that the woman had never gone to Steve Biko hospital and that she herself had confirmed this.
She had gone to the Tswhane district hospital‚ where she was treated rudely by a nurse and then decided to go to Edenvale hospital where she had given birth before and had found the treatment she had previously received there to be more satisfactory.
CCTV footage from the Tshwane district hospital shows the woman leaving about 40 minutes after arriving on June 1.
Motsoaledi said while this “very poor attitude” was problematic‚ it was not indicative of a wider presence of xenophobic attitudes in the South African health care service.
It was on her way to Edenvale via the Gautrain‚ that she gave birth in Park Station.
“Nobody should deliver in Park Station. It is very wrong‚” he admitted.
Motsoaledi said that from there‚ emergency medical services had taken her to Charlotte Maxeke where she was attended to by an advanced midwife and the baby placed in a baby heater. Because both she and the baby were healthy and the birth was deemed to be “normal“‚ she was “stepped down” to Hillbrow hospital for the mandatory six hour observation period.
Motsoaledi said South African hospitals routinely helped foreign nationals‚ whether they were asylum seekers or undocumented.
Of the 3‚598 births at Charlotte Maxeke between January and May‚ 1‚691 of these had been foreign women.
At the Tswhane hospital‚ 106 of the 300-odd births in May had been foreign women.
Motsoaledi said he had instructed the CEO of Tshwane district hospital to “follow procedures” to ensure that the staff member with the poor attitude was reprimanded.
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