Gauteng Health avoids Sheriff’s raid
The Gauteng Health Department narrowly missed having their HQ raided over an unpaid R23m medical negligence claim.
|||Johannesburg - The Gauteng Health Department’s headquarters narrowly missed having their building raided by the Sheriff of the court for not settling a medical negligence claim of R23 million.
Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu was ordered to pay close to R23m in damages to a woman whose daughter was left with cerebral palsy due to the negligence of staff at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
Medical staff failed to perform an immediate caesarean when the unborn baby of a woman – who asked not to be named - showed signs of distress in June 2005.
Wim Krynauw of Wim Krynauw Attorneys, who represented the mother, said that a settlement was reached between the two parties after the court found that the hospital staff had been negligent. The department was due to make the payment by September 18, but failed to do so.
“Despite various letters… the MEC has, to date, omitted… to make payment in accordance with the court order and, hence, we had no alternative but to proceed with the issuing and service of a writ of execution,” Kynauw told The Star.
But when the Sheriff arrived at the department’s offices on Monday morning, the MEC agreed to enter into negotiations around the payment. By midday, the two sides had reached an agreement.
“We’ve reached a settlement on this matter. It’s not a lump sum, but staggered payments over a period. The Sheriff will not be proceeding with the removal,” said Krynauw.
The money would be used to cover the girl’s numerous medical expenses, including the use of a ventilator, assistive devices and physiotherapy.
This is not the first time the department has failed to settle its medical negligence claims. In October last year, the Sheriff started removing furniture from the building after various legal claims were not settled.
The claims arose after several patients, most of whom were pregnant women, were admitted and treated negligently at various public health institutions in the province. In May last year, the department paid out R2.6m after another woman was treated negligently and her baby was also born was cerebral palsy as a result.
In November, the Sheriff attached several items of furniture in the department after it failed to pay a R6.5 million claim. The action against the department followed a high court order instructing it to pay R6.5 million to Matshidiso Matlawa after her daughter Lethabo was born brain damaged at Bara six years ago.
Mahlangu’s spokesman, Steve Mabona, was not available for comment at the time of publication.
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The Star