Protea South Clinic employees were allegedly held hostage as residents demanded services after working hours.
Health and Social Development MMC Mpho Phalatse said she was aware of the sad news. Phalatse added that the clinic works in conjunction with Chiawelo Community Health Centre (CHC), which offers healthcare services for 24 hours.
“Protea South Clinic offers primary healthcare services and operates from 07h30 to 16h00 on Monday to Friday. The staff remained at the facility after 16h00 as they were waiting for an ambulance to transfer a patient to a nearby hospital. They did not allow new patients to get in as the official closing hour had already past. According to allegations, at 16h10 two patients arrived at the clinic and demanded services. Staff referred the two patients to Chiawelo Community Health Centre. The staff also gave them an option to come back the following day. Their request was declined and six staff members were held hostage in the facility by two patients”, said Phalatse.
She added that at 16h00, the six staff members reported the incident to Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).
“While waiting for police and ambulance to arrive, the staff decided to assist the two patients. The ambulance arrived later for transfer, both staff and patients sustained no injuries. We condemn these criminal acts and urge JMPD together with law enforcement agencies to take decisive action to address this issue and hold account to those responsible. This will assist to avert the potential for the current situation to spiral out of control and potential result in all violence against city employees, working directly with residents. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated and I have demanded investigations to be conducted”, said Phalatse.
