Riot Hlatshwayo

Riot Hlatshwayo

A pregnant Mpumalanga woman is suing the Department of Health after a cleaner at a clinic allegedly assaulted her when she refused to throw away gum she was chewing.

Violet Matsane, 31, of Maviljan Trust in Bushbuckridge, has instructed her lawyer, Mpho Mashiloane, to start legal action against the department. Matsane, who is five months pregnant, claimed to have been at the clinic for a check-up when Phineas Mashego "harshly instructed" her to throw away the gum she was chewing. She said when she refused to throw the gum away, arguing that she was not a child and would therefore not stick the gum on the wall, she was manhandled.

"He grabbed me by the hand and pushed me, causing me to fall on a cleaning trolley with two buckets full of dirty water that made me wet."

She said she had to bite him so he would let go of her. She opened an assault case against Mashego, who laid a countercharge of assault against her for biting him. Both appeared in court on Thursday and were released on a warning until October 2.