Gauteng govt mum on R9m disability payout

2012-02-02 20:15

Johannesburg - The Gauteng government would not comment on Thursday on whether it would pay over R9 million to a brain-damaged child, as ordered by the High Court in Johannesburg.

"We are still investigating where we went wrong," Health MEC Ntombi Mekgwe said at a press briefing in Soweto to announce the province's service delivery hotline.

The matter relates to Prince Sibusiso Khanyi, who was born brain-damaged at Pholosong Hospital on the East Rand in December 1999.

The court found in February last year that he suffered permanent brain injury because of hospital negligence. It ordered that his parents, Martha and Simon, be paid compensation.

On Thursday, the Sowetan and Beeld newspapers reported that Khanyi's family and local government had settled the dispute and that the money would be paid out.

When asked by Sapa if this was the case, Mekgwe said: "I'm not saying it's incorrect."

She said the government had hired independent lawyers who were in contact with the Khanyi family.

Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, who was the respondent in the court case, said the matter was ongoing and that independent lawyers had been hired to deal with it.

The Health Professions Council of SA had also been approached to investigate the health staff responsible for Khanyi's condition.

"We have been done a disservice by people who work for us."

Mokonyane conceded that "ultimately I assume the responsibility".

- SAPA