A 34-year-old man bled to death after nurses at Mpumalanga Clinic in Dennilton, Limpopo, told his family they did not have equipment to stop the bleeding.

Thapelo Makitla was rushed to the clinic on August 17 after he was injured at a construction site he was working at.

Makitla had been visiting a friend in Dennilton to help him at a building site on August 17. While he was standing on a ladder, it slid and he hit a window which broke and injured him in his right arm.

He bled profusely after the broken glass had cut his vein.

His brother Prince Makitla immediately rushed him to the nearby Mpumalanga Clinic at about 2pm.

"When we arrived, we called the nurses and three of them came. But they said they were helpless because they don't have bandages or any material they can use to stabilise him.

"I asked them to call an ambulance and the nurses said the ambulance never comes and advised me to drive him to the hospital. They simply walked away afterwards," said Makitla.

Seeing that his brother was now weak, Makitla then drove him to Philadelphia Hospital, also in Dennilton, which took about 45 minute due to heavy traffic.

"When we reached the hospital, the nurses told us he was no more.

"As a family we feel very bad about this whole thing. I believe that if those nurses had tried to do something to stop my brother's bleeding, he would still be alive today.

"They could have done something," said Makitla.

He described his brother as a kind person who liked jokes and was easy-going.

Thapelo had a teenage daughter.

Makitla told Sowetan the family had not laid an official complaint with the Limpopo health department as they were busy with funeral arrangements.

The provincial department of health did not respond to questions sent last week.