#JusticeForShoni and #FixTembisaHospitalNow Campaign Responds to the Suspension of Tembisa Hospital CEO
JOHANNESBURG 2021–01–30
The #JusticeForShoni and #FixTembisaHospitalNow campaign note the announcement by the Gauteng Health Department of its intention to place Dr Lekopane Mogaladi, CEO of Tembisa Hospital,on precautionary suspension pending a disciplinary inquiry. This follows the Health Ombud’s damning report into the circumstances of the care and death of Shonisani Lethole at the Hospital.
In a new petition, the #JusticeForShoni and #FixTembisaHospital campaign demanded Mogaladi’s suspension pending disciplinary measures as the first step to improve management and governance at the hospital.
The Lethole family and the campaign welcome this decisive step by the health MEC, Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi, given the MEC’s previous public commitments to implement all the recommendations from the Health Ombud’s report, released this week. It is a step in the right direction toward achieving justice but more needs to be done, urgently.
During Dr Mogaladi’s numerous media appearances this week, we noted his defiant tone in dismissing the Ombud’s report, and his intention to take the report on legal review and his contradiction of the MEC’s pronouncements. This was deeply unfortunate.
Because the Ombud’s report found Tembisa Hospital not suitable to serve as one of the three COVID-19 referral hospitals in Gauteng, it is imperative to act swiftly as the province still faces high infection numbers. By now, nearly everyone knows someone who has either been ill or succumbed to COVID-19 so the push to fix Tembisa Hospital is all the more urgent. Everyone deserves good healthcare when they need it most.
The #JusticeForShoni and #FixTembisaHospitalNow campaign’s latest petition makes 10 demands ranging from, instituting disciplinary action against senior management and medical staff who failed in their responsibilities for Shoni’s care; ensuring compliance and implementation of COVID-19 and critical care protocols; progress reports to the family; to acknowledging publicly the pain and suffering of other families who had loved ones die at Tembisa Hospital in dubious circumstances.
The campaign’s first petition gathered nearly 26,000 supporters influencing action by health authorities. We’re now calling for more support so that we can keep pushing for transparency, accountability and change at Tembisa Hospital.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE:
change.org/justiceforshoni
CONTACTS
Email JusticeForShoni@gmail.com
Ndinnanyi Siminya +27 76 836 5768 | Borrie Lagrange +27 83 287 5294
About #JusticeForShoni and #FixTembisaHospitalNow!
The #JusticeForShoni and #FixTembisaHospitalNow campaign was established in July 2020 as an independent, apolitical movement with no affiliation to any political party. Our objective is to ensure transparency and accountability with the goal of improving Tembisa Hospital in the South African public healthcare system — and to ensure trust in the quality of care provided during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We are a group of more than 150 friends and family of Shonisani Lethole who want to see the Tembisa community and other communities get the quality healthcare they deserve — and to fix what is broken in our health system.Our first petition mobilized 26,000 supporters calling for an investigation into Shoni’s death and accountability from health authorities in order to improve care at Tembisa Hospital. Our second petition, #FixTembisaHospitalNow calls for the urgent implementation of the recommendations of the Health Ombud.
