A woman in the Malamulele area gave birth on the clinic floor after the nurses at the Tlangelani Clinic of Bhalati village allegedly told her that they were too busy to attend to her. The incident happened at about 9:00 on Sunday.



The 24-year-old woman, Happy Maluleke, was experiencing labour pains when she visited the Tlangelani clinic. Here she was apparently not attended to as a result of nurses’ claiming that they were busy. She eventually gave birth on the clinic floor, because she had no other option. “I was forced to deliver my baby on my own as the nurses told me that they were busy and could not assist me,” she said.



She added that when she arrived at the clinic, there were five patients waiting to be assisted as well. “Then I told the nurses how serious my situation was, but they just ignored me,” claimed Maluleke.



According to Maluleke, she tried to wait, but the pains were becoming unbearable. “I could not prevent the baby from coming out. I was forced to lie down on the floor, to help myself deliver it,” she highlighted, adding that she was pissed off when the nurses told her that they were sorry for not attending to her.



A similar incident happened at the Madombidzha clinic in the Sinthumule area last year, where Lufuno Mulamu gave birth at the back of a bakkie after she was refused assistance by the nurses at the clinic. The nurses used an excuse of not having electricity at the clinic. The baby died after two days.



Meanwhile, an eyewitness, Mr Steven Rikhotso, indicated that he was very shocked and still stunned about the nurses’s behaviour. “I was at the clinic when the incident occurred. I witnessed the two nurses ignoring Maluleke who was in labour pains, until she gave birth on her own in full view of the people who were at the clinic. Everybody witnessed it happening,” he said.



When contacted for comment, the spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Development, Mr Phuthi Seloba, confirmed that he was aware of the incident and that he was continuing with investigations to establish exactly what had happened.



“As the department, we are obviously disturbed by the reports. We highly condemn such actions and I believe that heads will roll after we complete our internal investigations,” Seloba said.