The family of Shonisani Lethole, the man who died at Tembisa Hospital in Ekhuruleni on Monday, after complaining of being starved for 48 hours, said it was going to sue government for the ill-treatment and the death of their son.
Lethole’s mother, Vhahangwele Patricia, said the family was going to fight tooth and nail to get justice for her son, even if it means she has to take early retirement, to fund a legal battle against the government.
The mother, from Limpopo Madombidza, said her son was ill treated by hospital staff three days before they were told that he had passed, allegedly due to COVID-19.
Lethole, Patricia said was admitted at Tembisa hospital on 30 June 2020, after complaining of back and chest pains, as well as struggling to breathe.
She said upon arrival at the hospital, her son was put in the casualty ward, and he was not given food for two days, prompting him to alert the Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize, about his situation via Twitter.
She said despite her son’s attempt to get Mkhize to intervene, nothing was done. She also alleged that nurses later refused to assist him in going to the toilet.
Vhahangwele said the hospital later put her son in the Emergency Ward, for patients suspected of having COVID-19 symptoms, but she said he was also ill-treated there and was not given food a day after his arrival.
“I had to go buy him food which I took the hospital together with blankets because he was complaining that the blankets were not enough. We were not allowed to see him, and I left the food and blankets with the nurses and asked that they give it to him. But to my shock, they never gave him the food,” she said.
The mother said on Monday she enquired about his wellbeing and she was told that he was recovering. But she said they didn’t say anything about her son having contracted the coronavirus.
She said that it was only after her husband went to the hospital on Monday afternoon, after receiving a call, that he was told that her son had died of COVID-19.
“The call just said we just come collect his clothes, and that’s when we confirmed our fears that something happened to him,” said the mother.
However, Patricia said what angered her was that the Hospital was now lying about the circumstances under which her son died.
She said the doctor at the hospital was denying the claims.
“He even denied that I brought food for him and that they didn’t give him. He now claims that my son’s girlfriend was the one, who brought food and he says my son could not eat the food because it had a lot of salt,” said the mother.
The Gauteng Department of Health said it was conducting an investigation into the incident and said the report would be given to the family.
Patricia said her family has been negatively affected by the incident and they were struggling to come terms with the fact that their son was gone.
“He was our only son, and now the hospital has robbed us of him,” she said sobbing uncontrollably.
Lethole, was an entrepreneur and he was described by his mother as a bubbly and humble person
The 31-year-old will be buried in Limpopo, Madombidza next Friday.
