Exposed! Inside EL’s horror morgue

Thanks to all who responded to my post. We visit SA to see friends (Kaysers Beach). I see a beautiful country great people and such potential. If only the powers that be actually did something posotive. I know it has only been 16 (nearly) years. I hope most of you don’t dispair because (as an “outsider” who will probably be told “what do I know”) I really do have hope for your future. I know I am getting a bit deep here, but its up to the new generation to make a go of it whatever colour creed or religion. Please people don’t give up. Gavin I certainly agree with your comment on chatities.

PETE- I live in England but spent most of my life in SA. My eldest was born at Frere Hospital in 1987. Excellent & clean with great staff. Ten years later (1997)my wife needed a caesarian when our second was due. Our GP refused to perform the op at the Frere due to the poor standards and poorly trained staff. As we did not have medical aid and could not afford a private hospital he eventually agreed to use Frere on condition that we pay a few bribes to certain key people which allowed him to hand-pick a team to assist him during the op. We also had to pay a back-hander to get my wife a private ward.
Everything went well and my second son was delivered safely. HOWEVER the filth in the corridors and in the other wards was unbelievable and there was no doubt that the standards being offered to those who could not afford the bribe was totally unacceptable.
Two years later (1999) my wife was due with our youngest and once again needed a caesar. We struck the same deal with the GP and Mrs T was admitted to Frere. Fortunately everything went well but the standards had deteriorated so badly in those two years that we can only thank God there were no hassles.
Bloodied cotton-wool swabs lay on the floors for the full 3 days that my wife was in hospital. The complete break down of basic facilities was astounding. I can only guess how much worse they are now.
The point is that there is no excuse for it. The Nats did not adopt a scorched-earth policy when they realied they were beaten. By contrast they continued building and improving the country right up until the elections of April 1994.
Don’t for one second swallow the story that apartheid is to blame or that there isn’t enough money. You need only read the blogs to see how much is being wasted on parties/luxury cars/bodyguards/jolly jaunts etc etc etc
As long as the western world abides these wastages and continues to throw money at these corrupt govts the more they will line their own silk pockets.
My daughter’s school recently raised money to finance a water supply for an African village. Last month they handed over a cheque for a few thousand £’s so that an African school could buy some land in order to grow their own vegetables so that they can feed themelves. No longer will we donate any money to these projects. We have long ceased giving to Oxfam or British Red Cross. Until the SA govt starts accepting responsibility for the pathetic state of the country my wallet shall remain tightly shut.

@Pete – This is what foreigners not living in South Africa don’t see. They didn’t know the South Africa that I grew up in – a peaceful & safe country where Pensioners got a decent State Pension, when the Frere Hospital was one of the top hospitals in the country, when school text books were free & you actually were GIVEN school stationery & didn’t have to buy it. It was a South Africa that where poverty was at a minimum and there were very, very few beggars on the streets. We could go window shopping on a Sunday evening because the windows of the shops in Oxford Street weren’t barricaded with roll-up security screens. You could walk on Eastern Beach with your family, eating your ice-cream without the fear of being mugged or murdered. We actually used have an extremely efficient public bus transport system with buses that ran like clockwork. There was no such thing as hi-jacking or ’smash n’ grab’. Murders were few and far between and were a Major Crime and the perpetrator was hanged because the death penalty was still in effect. There was no such thing as over-crowding in prisons because we had a an extremely efficient judicial system which made would-be criminals think twice about their actions. Our health & education systems were two of the top government systems in the world. I don’t agree with Apartheid or how it was handled, but at least the government could still run the country with all the systems in place, running efficiently and with very few financial woes or problems – all of this without foreign aid or intervention because of Sanctions…

@ Pete – It’s called Affirmative Action. For those outside of SA who don’t know what AA means – all the staff in the health Service and other government depts suddenly got replaced overnight by incompetent uneducated and untrained people…

Hey Pete, you forgot to add there uncaring, greedy, lazy and … well, I guess you get the general idea! The answer is a resounding YES!!!

That is unfortunately what happens when you give your mate jobs that they are unable to do and then pay them a fortune for sitting on their butts doing nothing all day.

I am just eternally grateful that there are sill a few, from every race, that actually do care and do try. For them I say a big thank you.

Pete, the answer to your question is a simple one – YES.

I will probably get hammered for this by various people, but answer me this (I am a Brit and possibly ignorant I know !) but what suddenly changed the standards post 1994? Did all the staff in the health Service and other government depts suddenly get replaced overnight by incompetent uneducated and untrained people?? Enlighten me please.

TEAGAN- your one line sums up all the frustrations of every citizen and points to exactly where the problem lies.
“keep up standards”
Nobody but the completely brainwashed (read brain-dead) would have expected the govt to wave a magic wand and repair the mess of apartheid. But retaining simple and very basic services of the structures that were in place should not be that difficult. But Africa has proven time and again that it is just not capable.
These mudflaps give you all this sh*t about how much it costs to right apartheid. They never mention how many millions of £’s Euros and dollars are being pumped in through foreign aid and donations fom the west. The nats never enjoyed that luxury but were still able to provide basic structures such as morgues and hospitals.
2010 World Cup….can you imagine some foreign visitor having to be admitted to Frere or CMH ? Just imagine one being murdered and the body sitting at the morgue for months and months while Sipho and his mates are on a ‘go slow’.
The world is watching.

Yet again this is a typical example of our lovely government at work. No money for basic health care needs but yet there’s always money to party with & to purchase a couple of luxury vehicles to drive the “head of the dept” around or just to loan to someone outside the Dept. WAKE UP GOVERNMENT, this is where you’ll land up as well & I shudder to think that your family would appreciate you being treated like this once you’re dead. NO, Phumzo this is not apartheid’s fault this is your government’s fault they’ve had 15 years to keep up standards but where to lazy to lift their fingers to do anything.

Such disrespect for the dead. It sends a shiver down my spine to think our loved ones (and us) will end up at the mercy of people like that one day.

Surely not the same dept that was respons1ble for the bags of body parts rott1ng at CMH early th1s year ???
Any bets that they w1ll also be hav1ng/have had lunches for secretar1es and wasted taxpayers cash on b1g bashes at top venues wh1le the walls of the hosp1tals & fac1l1t1es crumble ??
Or w1ll Phumozet tell us that aparthe1d 1s to blame and th1s 1s merely “red1str1but1on” ?

I recently had the opportunity to meet Dr Zondi. He really is an efficient, accommodating and hard working person and I cannot tell you how impressed I was with him. The DoH needs to come to the party to make sure that they don’t lose key staff members.

It must be nice to be the MEC of Health sitting in Bhisho with no worries in the world – your house, car, medical aid, pension etc. are paid for, so to hell with everyone else, as long as he/she is happy… Stuff the fact that employees of various government health services haven’t received increases for the past years or they just haven’t been paid ‘cos there is no money because of the fat-cat salary being paid to the Head of the Health Department. It riles me that this is becoming all too prevalent – in ALL the government departments. These mortuary workers must see the most tragic & traumatising sights working where they do, but I can guarantee you that there is no money for trauma counselling. They are also at risk of the constant threat of contracting HIV via blood contact but they are just supposed to shut up & carry on doing their job – it’s demeaning & disgusting. As trickyricky mentioned – it’s time the government wakes up and incentivises these positions with liveable salary and benefits. They must put themselves into these employees’ shoes – what if they were the ones carrying the duties of these people – how much would they expect to earn…?

That is horrible. How can people treat the dead with such disrespect. Also it would be a very unsanitary place to be. Hopefully no one got sick from such mess.

It is a grim job at best and if the incentive is not there can we blame them? Surely this is an area which can’t be neglected. If the basics like gloves can’t be taken care of then i would do the same. Somebody needs to answer some questions…..not acceptable!!!!!