Court to decide stepmom's fate

2006-10-05 13:33

Oris Mnisi

Nelspruit - Judgment will be passed on Friday against a nurse accused of injecting her stepson with HIV-contaminated blood in August 2003.

The nurse, who worked at Matikwane hospital in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, at the time, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder and has been out on R1 500 bail.

The boy, who is now six years old and is HIV positive, has told the Mkhuhlu regional court via a closed circuit camera that his stepmother had injected him with a "red liquid" when he was visiting her and his father.

Nursing services manager at Matikwane hospital, Sandra Kashe, has testified that it would not have been possible for the nurse to have drawn blood from an HIV patient because she had a broken hand at the time.

She also said that nobody could access the hospital laboratory without authorisation.

The boy's father denied any knowledge about the incident, but confirmed that the boy once fell ill while visiting him and that his new wife accompanied him when they took the boy to hospital.

He said his son never told him about the injection and that he found it strange that he chose to tell his biological mother later instead.

The incident allegedly took place in August 2003 when the boy, who stays with his mother at Songeni village, visited his father at Mkhuhlu about 50km away.

His mother has testified that she took her son to the health centre as soon as she learnt about the injection. She said initial tests found he was HIV negative, but three months later, the tests were positive.

A Gauteng laboratory technician has confirmed that the boy is HIV positive.

The nurse has been acquitted of any wrongdoing in an internal disciplinary hearing due to lack of evidence.

She now works at Cunningmore clinic.

- African Eye