Wife no longer trusts Bara with Mosunkutu’s treatment
The wife of former Gauteng transport MEC Khabisi Mosunkuthu has decided not to send her husband back to Soweto’s main hospital as she does not trust he will be treated well.
This was after Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital CEO Dr Richard Lebethe assured Nonqaba Mosunkutu yesterday that her husband would be treated there, after being denied access of physiotherapy on Tuesday.
But Nonqaba changed her mind after reading statements made in the media about what happened on the day of the incident.
“My husband will not get fair treatment at the hospital. I will have to take him elsewhere. It is going to be very expensive… I have told Dr Lebethe that I have no time for politics and lies…
“You can imagine me saying ‘because I work here I would please take my husband in’. Where have you seen that? How can I do such a thing,” she said.
Nonqaba was reacting to a story published in a local news website which said an internal report at the hospital showed that she told the physiotherapist that because she works at Bara, she wanted to bring her husband there “for physiotherapy and did not want to go to South Rand Hospital”.
Sowetan reported on Wednesday that Mosunkutu was refused treatment at the hospital the previous day.
Nonqaba, 64, said her 69-year-old husband was refused treatment by a physiotherapist.
She said they were already in the consultation room when the physiotherapist refused to assist them and “rudely” told them to go to South Rand Hospital because it was closer to their home in Kibler Park, south of Johannesburg.
The former MEC suffered a stroke in July and, after being discharged from Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, was referred to Bara for all follow-up treatment, including physiotherapy.
Despite planning to take her husband elsewhere for physiotherapy, Nonqaba said he would still take her to the Soweto hospital for other medical treatment.
“If you could come and see how my husband is doing you will see how he is struggling. He cannot walk at all and his condition is deteriorating,” she explained.
Nonqaba has already lodged a formal written complaint to Lebethe about the treatment her husband was subjected to.
Gauteng health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa’s spokesperson Khutso Rabothata said Nonqaba’s husband had been well-looked after.
“The patient on the acute situation was treated and referred to South Rand for follow-up physiotherapy. The family thought he was still too ill to be referred to South Rand and wished he remain with Bara,” said Rabothata.
“The CEO liaised with the family and I consider the matter resolved between the family and the hospital. We consider Mr Mosunkutu as one of the veterans of our Struggle for liberation and are proud of his service to our people, including as MEC.
“We wish him a speedy and optimal recovery and will continue to support his
The CEO liaised with the family and I consider the matter resolved