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Over the past few days, the media has carried articles about Health Minister, Dr Nkosazana Zuma's experience at Addington hospital in Durban.

A Saturday paper even led with the headline, "Zuma in new scandal". Another Sunday paper said, "Zuma gets a taste of her medicine".

In both these articles there were unfortunate suggestions that the Health Minister had abused her political responsibility to get preferential treatment for her brother, who had suffered epileptic seizures on the night of December 5, 1998.

There were also assertions that the Minister "stormed" into the casualty section of the hospital. A suggestion that she had no right to be there in the first place.

What is significant about this situation is not the Minister's brother, but why in a big training hospital, right in the middle of a metropolitan city of Durban, on a month end, there was only one doctor on duty at the casualty ward?

On whether Dr Zuma abused her political authority by taking the public's complaints to the responsible officials in KwaZulu-Natal, is in our opinion beside the point.

Incidentally, Dr Nkosazana Zuma is the country's minister of Health. She is charged with the political responsibility of ensuring, inter alia, that the public receives professional, caring and efficient service at all public health facilities. It is therefore unthinkable that a Minister of Health would abdicate her responsibilities when confronted with a situation that had the potential of undermining patient's care as evidenced by the Addington experience.

It is equally unacceptable by anybody's standards, to let critically ill patients lie unattended for any unreasonable length of time.

We would like to emphasize that Dr Zuma, as Minister of Health, has an inalienable right to enter any public health facility without hindrance. We therefore find it strange that some people want to question this right.

The public expect her to speak on their behalf; after all she has the political mandate to do so, particularly for the vulnerable and the voiceless.

We would like to assure the public that she will continue to take interest in their problems and seek remedies from the relevant officials whenever the situation demands.

We would also appeal to the responsible officials at the hospital, and in the province to address public concerns about service delivery at out facilities, as a matter of urgency.

We also urge the public to demand quality service at all public facilities and to take their complaints to the relevant authorities when such service is not rendered.

Lastly, we wish to pay tribute to all health workers, who despite difficult working conditions continue to put the welfare of the patients above their sectarian interests.

Contact: Khangelani Hlongwane
Phone: 082 557 0978
Fax: 012 325 7813/4

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