A video shared by a patient at the Helen Joseph Hospital (HJH) in Johannesburg has gone viral, highlighting the challenges with the country’s public hospitals. 

In the five-minute video filmed on Saturday, 7 September, the man in the video, broadcaster Tom London, can be heard complaining about the doctors at the hospital in Auckland Park, accusing the doctors of treating patients “like cockroaches.” He then showed all the broken infrastructure in the ward that he was in and accused the hospital of “experimenting on people.” London then went on to explain that the person who was opposite him in the hospital had died twenty minutes before the video and was just left there for three to four hours.

London discharged himself, left the hospital the same day after 14 days there, and moved to a private hospital, courtesy of Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie and donations from the public. 

Speaking to Kaya FM, London said his criticism of the HJH was how people were treated and not necessarily how the healthcare providers did their job. “I think that’s a problem that you don’t need an MEC or Premier to fix. I think that’s a problem that, as a human being, you look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you’re treating people nicely and treating them with dignity and kindness and if your answer is ‘no’, then you can self-reflect and fix it in one second,” he said.

The Gauteng Department of Health has said it was investigating the incident. However, Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko had met with the hospital’s management team and was “satisfied that adequate clinical care was discharged to manage his condition.” The statement acknowledged what they called “ known infrastructure issues” and said they were being addressed as part of the maintenance and refurbishment programme at the hospital. Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla noted that the Gauteng Department of Health had promised to conduct a maintenance programme at the hospital. He promised to follow up with Nkomo-Ralehoko on Monday.

London’s video has revealed the challenges plaguing state hospitals in South Africa, particularly in Gauteng. Here are just some of the problems experienced in public hospitals:

  • In July, the civil society organisation Cancer Alliance filed a court application against the Gauteng Department of Health after the department failed to spend hundreds of millions allocated to it for the treatment of cancer patients.
  • According to Democratic Alliance’s Shadow Health MEC in Gauteng, Jack Bloom, the newly appointed Head of Department at HJH, Arnold Lesiba Malotana, is being investigated by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) for allegedly sharing an R8 million bribe with two officials. “Premier Panyaza Lesufi should review Malotana’s appointment if he is serious about fixing Gauteng’s hospitals,” said Bloom.
  • Rahima Moosa in Coronationville in Johannesburg is South Africa’s only mother-and-child hospital. The hospital delivers about 15,000 babies annually—the second-highest number in the country after Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. In recent years, problems in the hospital, such as overcrowding and mismanagement, have made news headlines and even been investigated by the health ombudsman. “We have to leave our work and go out to collect water from the trucks. If we are not busy collecting water, we are dealing with water leakages in the wards. That time, patients are busy calling us all sorts of names because they have to wait longer for services,” said a nurse who works there.

While London is getting the help he deserves, many have come forward to share their own stories about the public health sector. Some have said that under the proposed controversial National Health Insurance (NHI), scenes like those experienced by London would be the norm. With the pressure mounting and all eyes on GDoH, we wait for meaningful changes that will allow South Africans to access dignified medical care in our public clinics and hospitals.