Nurses at Jeppestown Clinic say their workplace is dangerous as some patients manage to enter the health facility with weapons.
They said a group of people believed to be members of Operation Dudula are seen outside the facilities asking to see patients' documents and even allegedly turning some of them away from the clinic.
During a site visit on Thursday by Johannesburg MMC for public safety Mgcini Tshwaku and MMC for social development and health Ennie Makhafola, nurses complained about their safety and how they are, at times, held hostage by patients.
One of the nurses informed the MMCs that only four professional nurses were typically on duty on Saturdays, with one unarmed security guard who stands at the main entrance.
“This Saturday, a drunk man arrived at the clinic with a knife. He put his knife on top of the file and demanded that I assist him,” said one of the nurses. They complained that on one occasion, a man arrived with a gun.
Jeppestown Clinic is estimated to help 10,000 patients every month. Nurses told the MMCs that due to nonpayment of overtime, nurses rotated working on weekends.
This meant that only four work on Saturdays. One of the nurses said that during the week, it was better that even if they were to be threatened by the patients, they could still manage to scream, expecting other nurses to help them.
But on Saturday, the situation is different.
Busisiwe Hutu, one of the nurses, told the MMCs that the main problem was security, as patients who arrived at the clinic were not searched.
“The big issue here is security. We are not safe on Saturdays, ” she said, adding that one of the men told her that he knew the car she was driving.
“I know that you are the one who is opening the clinic — I will go back to the hostel and call izinkabi (hitmen) and we will deal with you,” Hutu said the man told her.
She added that security was slack and the threats were a common occurrence.
“We won't come on Saturdays if there is no security to search patients.
“Our security doesn't search them; they just go to the room. No-one asks them who you are or where you are going,” she said.
Tshwaku said that from next month, the city would tighten the security at the clinic. with more manpower.
“We will give them metal detectors. We will have a search and seizure. I am having a meeting now with the director of security within the JMPD.
“They have given us the hotspots. After October 1, we are even going to have armed security. Whatever nonsense they are doing, they mustn't do it inside this clinic,” he said.
He said on the issue of people asking for documentation from patients, the city will liaise with the provincial police commissioner and the immigration unit from the department of home affairs.
“We need to tell them that they are people who are impersonating them and that they need to come to the party,” he said.
Tshwaku said that no-one in South Africa should be denied health services, including locals and foreigners. He said what Operation Dudula was doing was illegal, and if they were not happy with the laws, they could approach the courts and challenge the law.
“It is inhumane and illegal for them to do what they are doing. It is so sad to see that blacks do those things to other black people. It is so sad and it is so disheartening,” he said.
He added that they will ensure that everyone who visits the city's facilities is safe.
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