Following an oversight visit to Mamelodi Hospital in Tshwane, the DA says it is not surprised by recent reports of a woman left with little choice but to give birth standing up, stating the maternity section is completely understaffed.

DA MP Siviwe Gwarube and Gauteng MPL Jack Bloom visited the hospital on Monday morning during an unannounced inspection following the story of Theresa Ngwendu whose baby allegedly died after falling to the ground in early August.

News24 previously reported Ngwendu, 30, said she was rushed to the hospital on the morning of August 7 after going into labour.

READ: Mother, who was allegedly forced to give birth standing up, buries her child

Upon entering the hospital, she requested the assistance of a nurse, explaining she was about to give birth.

“I told one of the nurses, I want help, but the nurse [was] ignoring me,” Ngwendu said.

Instead of being helped, the nurse allegedly told her to close her legs and sit down.

Moments later, she gave birth, while standing up, resulting in the newborn falling to the floor.

“After the baby landed on the floor, she [the nurse] came, shouting ‘this is not Zimbabwe, this is South Africa’.”

Ngwendu alleged the baby had died after hitting his head on the floor.

A criminal case has been opened and the Gauteng Department of Health is investigating the alleged incident.

Following their visit, both Gwarube and Bloom said they were not surprised by the incident.

READ MORE: SAHRC tells Mamelodi Hospital doctor his statement about hospital abuse is contradictory

“We can understand why these things happened. This hospital is completely and utterly understaffed,” Gwarube said.

She added the maternity ward currently had two midwives instead of 12, and only one doctor on duty.

Gwarube said there was also no space in the maternity ward for the number of women giving birth and the hospital gave mothers up to six hours to vacate their beds after giving birth, to make space for the next woman in labour.

Bloom said nurses in the maternity section have been promised that vacant posts would be filled and he hoped the maternity ward would also be extended as it was “totally overcrowded”.

Last week, the spokesperson for Health MEC Bandile Masuku, Kwara Kekana, said the department had received a report from the hospital about the incident, noting it had been in touch with the family for redress.

In June, the SA Human Rights Commission visited the hospital after news broke that an elderly lady had been tied to a bench.

Then, hospital officials complained to the commission about understaffing and the serious shortage of beds for patients.

Staff also detailed their struggles in the hospital over capacity to the commission.

The hospital’s quantity assurance officer, Maesela Phogole, promised to fully co-operate with it to ensure longer-lasting solutions would be found.

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A man who violently shoved a woman at a Spar supermarket in Schweizer-Reneke suffers from mental disorder, the police have said. 

In a video, shared on social media, two women and a child can be seen walking down an aisle of the store, when the man dressed in a grey hoodie approaches and pushes one of them. He is then stopped by bystanders and staff. 

According to police spokesperson Colonel Amanda Funani, it is believed that the incident happened around 09:33 on Friday. 

Funani told News24 that the woman had opened a case of common assault at the Schweizer-Reneke police station. 

“After the case was opened, we established that the guy is mentally disturbed and takes medication,” Funani said. 

Because police do not arrest suspects of common assault, the 33-year-old man was released into his parents’ care, Funani said. 

The man is expected to appear in the Schweizer Reneke Magistrates Court on Monday. 

“The prosecutor will decide on Monday whether to refer him to a psychiatric hospital or not. For now he is under parental guidance,” said Funani. 

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One man has died and another was injured when a bakkie crashed into a river in Bethal on Saturday, paramedics have said.

Just after 05:30 on Saturday, emergency responders were called to the scene on the R38 where the bakkie had crashed down a bridge and become partially submerged in the river underneath. 

At the scene between Bethal and Standerton in Mpumalanga, paramedics from ER24 and Bethal Emergency Services found a man trapped inside the vehicle, who had suffered fatal injuries. The second occupant was found with moderate injuries near the bakkie.

The exact circumstances surrounding the cause of the incident are not yet known, said ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak.

Local authorities attended the scene and Fire and Rescue personnel removed the vehicle from the river. 

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Most Cape Town motorists slow down when they see a traffic officer with a speed camera on the side of the road, but they may be surprised to find that the official with the steely-eyed gaze is actually a metal cut-out.

Several city residents were surprised this week by a photo taken by a passenger of the mock officer on Frans Conradie Drive, which was shared on social media.

Laughing at how they had been tricked, a few people shared that they had driven past the cut-out earlier and had slowed down because they thought the officer was real.

Similar cut-outs were reportedly spotted under the R300 bridge and in Fish Hoek.

One person said the traffic department should get 10 points for creativity, while another thought the shoulder flashes were lifelike and even fluttered a bit in the wind.

Some were a bit cheeky. There were jokes about paying traffic fines with play money and laughing at the prospect of a strong wind blowing the cut-out over.

City Traffic Services spokesperson Richard Coleman said the department had been using these steel cut-outs since September 2017.

“Thus far we have only received positive feedback,” he said.

“This City initiative aims to make motorists aware of the speed they are driving. Motorists would usually slow down if they are speeding and see a traffic official.”

Wheels24 reported that the Bakwena N1/N4 road agency had used a cardboard cut-out of an official vehicle as part of a road safety initiative to curb speeding during the Easter period.

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