A recent robbery at Livingstone Hospital in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, has surprised and alarmed those living there.
This after security guards were robbed at gun point at the facility recently.
They managed to escape with their lives after three gun-wielding men entered the hospital premises and robbed them of their belongings.
No staff member injured
According to the Provincial Department of Health, no staff member had been injured during the brazen attack.
The department’s director of communications, Siyanda Manana, confirmed the incident. He said three armed men came though the front main entrance of the facility that is opposite Shoprite. They proceeded to rob the three female security guards who were seated inside the guard house.
“The men pointed them with guns and took their personal phones and the company cellphone. No staff or patient was [harmed] during the incident,” said Manana.
Manana further revealed that a similar attack had occurred at the facility last year.
Police call for help locating suspects
“We implore everyone who might have seen or heard anything about the incident to please contact the police. This is so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice,” he said.
Manana described this incident as part of a pattern of attacks on all medical facilities in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro area.
“Healthcare facilities must be protected at all costs. Such incidents trample on our people’s rights to healthcare and safety at our institutions.”
He said that the department would work with law enforcement authorities to bring the culprits to book.
Police said they are investigating a case of armed robbery. They have put up measures to better protect the guards.
Spate of attacks on health facilities countrywide
In January, the City of Tshwane recorded a robbery that occurred at Hercules Clinic. During that incident, a female security officer was shot.
A damaged ceiling and a detached air-conditioning unit was what remained after the incident. The city said these acts of vandalism and violence target the very core of public health infrastructure.
Earlier in the year, nurses at Chiawelo Clinic in Soweto were also attacked and robbed during the early hours of the morning.
Limpopo suspect nabbed
In the same month, Moloto Johannes Sathekge, 28, was arrested for raping two nurses at the Ga-Maja clinic in Limpopo.
Sathekge faces 10 counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances. He also faces three counts of housebreaking with intent to commit an offence, two counts of kidnapping, four counts of rape, attempted murder, and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
The charges are based on claims that Sathekge terrorised the villages of Ga-Chuene and Ga-Maja between December and January.
He was able to forcibly enter women’s homes and demand laptops, cellphones, and cash.
