A DOCTOR FROM THE EASTERN CAPE IS WANTED FOR RAPING A PATIENT DURING A CONSULTATION.
This week, a 24-year-old woman went to Mount Ayliff Hospital in the Eastern Cape to pick up her epileptic medication. While there, she claims that a clinical associate sexually assaulted her while they were having a consultation.
This occurred on Thursday morning as other patients were waiting outside the consultation room, according to the family.
The 24-year-old woman was raped in the consulting room by a 39-year-old male clinical associate as nurses were attempting to break down the door and obtain admission. The Eastern Cape department of health reported the incident to the police.
“The victim is a known patient who receives services at Mount Ayliff Hospital. When the incident was reported, the hospital and district management responded swiftly to support the patient and followed all the medical procedures required for such incidents.
Provincial health spokesperson, Yonela Dekeda said: “What is of serious concern is that the incident is alleged to have taken place within the hospital premises and during the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children. This is the period when the government calls for prevention and elimination of Gender Based violence in our country.”
Five years have passed since the doctor joined the facility.
The Eastern Cape Health MEC, Nomakhosazana Meth said: “It is even more serious when such incidents are alleged to have occurred within our facilities where patients entrust our officials with their health and confidentiality.”
The MEC also directed the HOD to launch an immediate internal probe regarding the claims.
Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana, a spokesman for the police, confirmed that the case had been started.
No arrest has been made at this stage as the suspect is still at large, says Tembinkosi.
The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene expressed shock at the incident and immediately ordered the police to ensure that the suspect finds his way to the courts of law to account for his actions.
POPCRU COMPLAINS OF DANGEROUS CONDITIONS FOR PRISON GUARDS IN THE EASTERN CAPE.
Popcru has requested the Eastern Cape’s correctional services department to increase guard staffing and jail construction.
The 45 jails in the province, which hold more than 21 000 offenders, will experience reduced violence as a result, according to the union.
In order to ease overcrowding, the union encouraged the Department of Correctional Services to hire additional guards and construct more prisons in the Eastern Cape.
The union claimed that on Wednesday inside St. Albans Prison, two convicts stabbed three guards. A week earlier, a worker serving breakfast was stabbed in the eye at the same establishment.
That event came after a brutal Boxing Day attack in 2016 that resulted in the deaths of three prisoners and the injuries of 26 others, including prison guards.
The ANC administration, according to the union, has not constructed any new prisons since assuming power in 1994, which has led to overpopulation.
According to Xolani Prusente, provincial secretary for Popcru, the combined overcrowding rates for the Eastern Cape’s 45 prisons were 170.39%, and the guard vacancy rate was 8.13%.
He said that only 5 121 correctional services employees were responsible for caring for the 21 145 inmates housed in the province’s prisons.
CARL NIEHAUS HAS BEEN BANNED FROM THE ANC AFTER BEING FOUND LIABLE FOR MISCONDUCT.
Carl Niehaus was kicked out of the ANC. The national disciplinary committee (NDC) of the ANC found the former spokesperson for the ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veteran’s Association guilty on six charges of misconduct for comments made after former president Jacob Zuma was imprisoned for contempt of court last year.
The NDC concluded that Niehaus’s remarks exceeded the bounds of free expression and damaged the reputation of the party.
Niehaus, according to the NDC, displayed no remorse.
Furthermore, it was discovered that Niehaus continued in believing that the ANC’s decision to discipline him violated both his rights and the organization’s own constitution.
“While the ANC was very tolerant of differing views, it was the obligation of every member to abide by the stated policies and positions of the party as articulated by the NEC from time to time. No member was exempted or allowed to adopt a posture that defined him or her as being bigger than the organisation.
In July last year, the ANC confirmed Niehaus’s suspension. At the time a letter from then-ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said Niehaus’s utterances at Nkandla brought the party into disrepute and, therefore, the party decided to suspend his membership.
Meanwhile, Niehaus has since taken the news of his appeal to social media.
Niehaus tweeted: “I have already appealed the travesty of justice of my illegal expulsion by the ANC’s national disciplinary committee. Because I have appealed the farcical expulsion, I’m suspended. I remain a full member of @MYANC.”
Regarding the conclusions and appropriate application by Niehaus, the ANC has not yet commented.
WOMEN’S CAUCUS LED DIALOGUES OF 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM
The women’s caucus in the Buffalo City Metro Municipality last week held awareness campaigns in support of the 16 days of activism, in an attempt to address the challenges faced by women and children in the region.
They held these programmes in four areas of the metro, namely, eQonce, Mdantsane, Ducats and Duncan Village. This comes after the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, announced last month that over 7000 people were killed between Jul-Sept 2022 and 10590 people were raped, nationally.
The intention behind the programme was to underscore what exactly women have to do when they have encountered such violence towards them and their children and also underscore the measures the women’s caucus took to try and reduce such crimes in our society.
OurNews journalist attended the programmes held at Mdantsane and met with Councillor Clara Morolong-Yekiso, and she said that as the women’s caucus they are trying, by all means, to counter violence towards women and children in the metro and that this programme they have started, it will continue and not only end here.
Cllr Clara said: “The reason we started this program is for people to know that we, as the Women’s Caucus, are fighting GBV and Femicide, these awareness campaigns we are doing we want people to see that we are helping them, and we hear their cries.
“Secondly, we have Clean-up campaigns as a Women’s caucus in all the open spaces of Buffalo City, this is where dead women are found, and after we started these clean-up campaigns, we have noticed that the number of mothers and young girls who are picked up dead from these fields is decreasing. So at least this is evidence that I think shows that we are indeed doing something.”
The ward’s councillor, Cllr Claudia Stemele was also present and shared how she has from social development that her ward has the most reported cases of violence against women and children, particularly young girls. Since she received the news, she met with the women’s caucus and urged them to include her ward in one of their programmes as it could help people in her community.
Cllr Claudia: “For the first time today, I feel empowered, the reason for this comes from the fact that I had a problem here in the Ward, we have been hearing about the killing of women in this area for a long time. One day I was woken up in the morning, and I was told that there is a young girl who was murdered by her boyfriend, I was very hurt because I am also a mother.
“In today’s program I say, as women, we must stop being silent when there is an abuse that we know about, even if we are not affected, let’s speak up and ask for help because many times these things happen in our presence but because they don’t happen to us, we keep quiet.”
She further added that hopefully, these programmes have made an impact on the people who attended.
Vuyokazi Boyana, a PR councillor and a member of the women’s caucus in the metro, said, “As the women’s caucus we are here to give attention to women’s rights and ensure that they are not abused in any way. We also give attention to rape victims, we make sure when they go and report to the police, they are given the necessary attention. We have had many cases where rape and abuse victims have been mistreated by police and our intervention made sure that they are attended to. We are happy with our work so far.”
ARTICLE BY SIYAKHOLWA VUSO//EDITED BY CWAYITA ZWENI