Sakhile Mokoena

Sakhile Mokoena

Barely a month after a mental patient killed two people at Rob Ferreira Hospital in Nelspruit, another patient at the hospital has gone on the rampage and assaulted three nurses.

Nurses said the patient went wild on Thursday while they were trying to administer medication. He became violent and threatened to assault them.

The provincial Health Department and social services confirmed the incident and said the patient had been transferred to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital in Pretoria.

"The three nurses sustained lacerations but are back at work," said Dumisani Mlangeni, spokesman for the department.

After last month's tragedy, when a teacher, admitted for mental observation, killed two patients, injured two others and attempted to rape nurses, staff members in the psychiatric ward at Rob Ferreira Hospital said they were worried about their safety.

Mlangeni said their fears were being taken seriously by his department.