A family in Alexandra township is mourning the death of their 4-year-old child who was injured on Wednesday this week in a car accident, but they were turned away from the Alexandra Health Centre at 5 pm after security guards told them the clinic had no electricity as the generator was not working.
According to the family, the child died from his injuries when they tried to take him to a hospital.
I have taken up this tragic case with Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi, and it has been confirmed that the generator is broken because it exploded during the frequent load-shedding.
While the investigation into this matter is continuing, it is inexcusable that a generator at a large clinic has been out of action for two weeks.
This highlights once again the incompetence of the Gauteng Infrastructure Development Department which is responsible for the maintenance and repair of all generators at healthcare facilities.
Other health facilities in Gauteng that have suffered from failed generators include the Badirile and Thusong clinics on the West Rand, and the Far East Rand Hospital ran out of fuel for one of its generators two weeks ago.
Broken generators should never be a reason for turning people away from a health facility.