Read on Twitter
THREAD: Nearly 8 years since their relative passed on at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, a Gauteng family remains none the wiser about the whereabouts of the man’s body. The hospital lost the corpse and informed the family of the man's passing 4 years after the fact.
Speaking out this week, the deceased’s niece, Ms. Nokuthula Sithebe-Dlamini said all the family wanted was to find her uncle Themba Milton Sithebe’s body in order to give him a dignified burial, close this traumatic chapter of their lives and move on.
“My uncle was a humble person, with lots of jokes," said a heart-broken Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini about the deceased father of four, who lived in Thembelihle, Ennerdale. "As family, it saddens us that we can't give him a proper burial. It's devastating."
Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini’s remarks followed the PP’s directive that the Acting Head of the provincial Department of Health, Mr. Arnold Lesiba Malotana and hospital Chief Executive Dr. Nkele Lesia initiate disciplinary steps against the nurse responsible, Sister Cecelia Maile.
Ms. Maile, who was team leader of Medical Ward 24 where Mr. Sithebe was treated and on duty at the time of his passing, was found to have failed to ensure all the requisite information on the death notification report was completed and to inform the next of kin of his passing.
A new, 86-page Public Protector report details how, during an investigation, Ms. Maile advised investigators that, due to the lapse of time, she could no longer remember the finer details of what transpired on the day Mr. Sithebe passed away as Ward 24 was a 68-bed section.
She, however, conceded that her failure to notify the family of the deceased about the death constituted an omission on her part. This was despite the fact that she only became aware of the missing body 6 years since the incident occurred.
The investigation established that Mr. Sithebe died whilst a patient at the hospital and was certified dead by a Dr. Bilal Bobat as per death report dated 28 May 2013, which was submitted to the PP by Dr. Lesia.
Ms. Maile was found to have been negligent in her failure to ensure a proper handover to incoming colleagues at the point of a shift change. Her conduct saw the family suffering prejudice as they could not arrange a proper burial for their loved one.
The hospital, through Ms. Maile, was found to have violated the Constitution, the Births and Death Registration Act, the hospital’s Nursing Service Guidelines, Regulations relating to the Management of Human Remains and those on the rendering of Forensic Pathology Service.
Furthermore, the hospital was found to have acted in a manner that was inconsistent with the Preamble and Purpose Statement of the Code of Ethics for Nursing Practitioners.
The investigation was prompted by Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini’s 19 October 2018 complaint in which she alleged that the deceased was admitted to the hospital on 26 May 2013 by his son, Mr. Andile Charles Mavi. Patient file GP09041477 was allegedly opened for him.
Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini also alleged that hospital officials later advised Mr. Mavi that they could not find his father, adding that it was only when the deceased’s daughter, Ms. Thuli Sithebe, followed up that the family learned of an internal probe into the deceased’s disappearance
The hospital allegedly informed Ms. Sithebe 4 years later that her father passed away on 28 May 2013. However, no information on the whereabouts of the deceased’s remains were provided. The hospital allegedly said at the time that further investigations were underway.
Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini also alleged that the investigations in question were concluded on 23 March 2017, at which point the hospital invited the family to a meeting where officials informed them that the investigations had provided no answers.
She told the PP that she later approached the hospital again to enquire about the whereabouts of the deceased’s remains and was allegedly informed that there was no further information on the matter as the hospital did not have any record of Mr. Sithebe on their database.
In addition, Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini said in her complaint that the hospital’s security division investigated the matter and concluded that the deceased received a pauper’s burial. However, there were no details of the funeral parlour that may have arranged the burial.
She was allegedly not provided with a response on how the hospital continued with disposing of the remains of the deceased without tracing his family.
Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini told the PP in her complaint that she then approached the Department of Home Affairs in order to verify her uncle’s status on the population register. It turned out the department did not have a death certificate on record as he reflected as alive.
On 04 June 2017, the Sithebe family approached the Diepkloof police to open a case of a missing body. The case was registered under case number CAS 67/6/2017 and allocated to Warrant Officer, IE Mathebula for investigation.
Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini alleged that the police failed to investigate or finalise the case of a missing corpse. However, the PP found that the allegations against the police were unsubstantiated.
The police investigation was, in fact, completed and the case docket was taken to the Senior State Prosecutor at Orlando court after consultation with the police’s Legal Service division. The outcome was communicated to Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini.
The docket was discussed with the Senior Public Prosecutor on 20 November 2018 to determine whether a court order for an exhumation order for the body of another person, who was buried as a pauper, could be obtained to establish whether or not that body was not that of Mr Sithebe
The Senior State Prosecutor decided that based on hospital records, the case was not prosecutable.
Further to disciplinary action against Ms. Maile, the PP directed Mr. Malotana and Dr. Lesia to see to it within 60 days of the date of the report that a register system is put in place.
It must contain information indicating the full names and designations of officials at the wards and detailed information regarding who is responsible for patients from entry to the exit in the wards.
They must also ensure that hospital staff is trained on the data register, specifically compliance with the completion of the register. The training must also touch on the monitoring and evaluation of the data register at all hospital wards.
Staff must further be trained on the hospital Nursing Service Guidelines, specifically the completion of death notification reports and the process of reporting of deaths to the families of the deceased and unclaimed, unidentified bodies at the hospital to the police.
Hospital mortuary auxiliary staff must also be trained on proper record keeping of deceased patients and of the movement of the deceased bodies in and out of the mortuary. All of these must take place within 60 days of the date of the PP’s report.
Mr. Malotana and Dr. Lesia must report on steps taken in respect of all the above directives and further apologise in writing to Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini for the hospital’s failure to inform her about the death of her uncle and the subsequent loss of his mortal remains.
Apart from Ms. Sithebe-Dlamini, copies of the report were submitted to Premier David Makhura, Health MEC Dr. Nomathemba Mokgethi, Mr. Malotana, Dr. Lesia and Ms. Maile. The PP is monitoring the implementation of the remedial action.
