Body searches in hospitals

2003-12-17 13:28

Riot Hlatshwayo

Bushbuckridge - Visitors to all provincial hospitals in Limpopo will be body searched or be expected to pass through security scanners soon, after a patient was shot dead in his hospital bed recently.

Minister of safety and security Charles Nqakula has authorised the provincial health department to conduct the searches, said provincial health department spokesperson Phuti Seloba.

"The minister has authorised that body searches or, alternatively, security scanning be conducted to prevent similar incidents," he said.

Two men gained access to Mapulaneng hospital in Bushbuckridge under the pretext of being sick and shot Sello Nonyane, 21, in his hospital bed on the night of November 19.

Nonyane was sleeping in the surgical ward when the killers entered at about 23:00 and, without saying a word, killed him, said spokesperson for the Mopani police area Captain Moatshe Ngoepe.

"Both men fired one shot from their pistols," said Ngoepe.The men fled the ward in the ensuing mayhem and are still at large.

Nonyane had been admitted to the hospital two nights earlier after he was shot in the leg by unidentified gunmen while walking in a street at Shangaanhill in Bushbuckridge.

Evening visits at some provincial hospitals have since been banned pending the new security checks. Visiting hours are now limited to one hour at 10:00 and 15:00.

"This interim ban on evening visits affects only a handful of hospitals that have a history of similar incidents such as the one in Mapulaneng," said Seloba..

- African Eye