Joseph Mavhamba regrets the day he set foot at Musina Hospital...

Mavhamba (42) visited the hospital on November 4. He said he had just arrived at Musina from home, Manyii, in Nzhelele when he realized that he was suffering from a running stomach.

As a taxi driver who transports security officers from Musina to Dongola, Mavhamba said he forced himself and transported his customers as there was no one who could stand in for him. “When I came back, I still had the running stomach. By 1pm, I decided to drive to the hospital, so that they could check on me, as I was suspecting that I might be suffering from malaria."

He said the doctor told him not to be worried as his examinations could not establish anything sinister in his body "and he also assured me that I was not suffering from malaria,” said Mavhamba.

As he was about to leave the hospital, Mavhamba said the doctor called him back again and said that he was going to book him into the ward where he would sleep over, so that he could be put on drips in order to increase water in his body, since he had lost too much water. “Although I was shocked to be told that I was booked to sleep over in the hospital, I could not resist, as I was respecting the doctor’s decision."

Mavhamba added that when he was in Ward B, a nurse put him on a drip and gave him two types of pills, two brown and one white. “She told me that the doctor prescribed that I should take the pills at three different times over three hours. After taking the pills for the third time, I felt hot all over my body. My whole body, including my mouth, started to swell and when I scratched it, I realize that my skin was vanishing," he added.

At that moment, his eyes were closed, due to the swelling. "I became very scared, because I thought I was dying,” said Mavhamba. Mavhamba said a doctor who was called into the ward by the nurse told him that the swelling was caused by the pills that he was given.

By Sunday afternoon, Mavhamba’s body was seriously deformed. The fresh wounds all over his body resembled those of a person who had survived fire burns.

He was placed in Ward D, the one that accommodates people who are in critical condition. Some members of the local Pentecostal Holiness Church even visited Mavhamba and prayed for him.

Although his hands were still covered with heavy bandages to protect his wounds, Mavhamba said he was happy that he was going to be released on Monday, November 15, because he was desperate to go back to his job, because he was afraid that he might lose it if he stayed at the hospital for a long time.

After his discharge from the hospital on Monday, Mavhamba’s friend, Mashudu Ndou, took him to a private doctor who revealed that he had been given Bactrim pills, a tablet which consist of, amongst others, sulphur. The doctor then added that the swelling and the vanishing of his skin were caused by an allergic reaction to sulphur. The doctor also said that Mavhamba was not supposed to have been released, as his condition was still serious.

Ndou said they were still going to decide if Mavhamba would go to Siloam hospital, which is close to his home, Nzhelele. He said, however, there was no way Mavhamba would go back to Musina Hospital as he no longer trusted them.

The provincial spokesperson for the Department of Health in Polokwane, Ms Roletta Lebelo, said the department was not aware of the incident and that they were in discussions with the hospital to establish exactly what had happened, "so that we can give our full comment.”

The chief executive officer of the Musina Hospital, Mr Simon Netshivhambe, said that he was not aware of the incident. He invited Mr Mavhamba to submit a complaint at his office, and he will look into it.