Joburg hospitals remain calm

2010-09-03 15:46

Johannesburg - While there was intimidation at a hospital in Kwazulu-Natal, with a non-striking nurse being stabbed, hospitals in Johannesburg were calm with no reported violence, Gauteng police said on Friday.

A non-striking nurse was stabbed at the Northdale Hospital, in Pietermaritzburg, on Thursday night, and was being treated at the same hospital, said health MEC Dr Sbongiseni Dhlomo on Friday.

The situation in Gauteng, however, appeared to be under control with police spokesperson Brigadier Govindsamy Mariemuthoo reporting no violence.

About 100 public servant strikers sang and danced outside the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, many of them National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) members.

There was a strong military presence but a security guard said there had been no violence.

The spokesperson for the hospital was not immediately available but guards inside the hospital said that no journalists were allowed inside.

An employee only said: "The situation remains the same."

Patients went in and out of the hospital and queues outside the pharmacy were visible but the waiting room was near to empty and there was no one at the information desk.

The situation appeared to be the same at the Helen Joseph, Charlotte Maxexe and Rahima Moosa hospitals also in Johannesburg

- SAPA