Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital has defended its decision to amputate the leg of a 61-year-old man who had been admitted for an operation to remove an abdominal abscess.

Now his son, Linda Nkosi, has accused the hospital of negligence and a cover-up.

Patrick Nkosi died on February 9, a day after he was admitted to the hospital.

Apart from the amputation, his family found him with a gaping hole in his stomach at the mortuary.

Linda said: "The hospital's public relations officer told me that the doctors who operated on my father to remove the abscess realised that the veins in his left leg were not functioning properly and decided to amputate it."

He said this explanation was given to the family during a meeting which was also attended by a doctor and the hospital's lawyer on Friday. - Sibongile Mashaba