Health MEC ordered to pay R17m

Gauteng heath MEC Dr Gwen Ramokgopa has been ordered to pay over R17 million to a Randfontein mother and her six-yearold daughter who suffered severe brain damage because of shoddy care during and after her birth at Leratong hospital in the West Rand.

Judge Elizabeth Kubushi granted an order in the High Court in Pretoria yesterday that the MEC must pay the amount into a trust which will benefit the girl for the rest of her life.

Her unemployed mother, 29, initially claimed for over R30 million after she gave birth prematurely on December 25, 2011, but was sent home the next day despite her daughter not breathing properly or crying, not sucking and was blue around her mouth.

The mother claimed in court papers her daughter sustained severe brain damage as a result of her early discharge.