Guards who dragged dad: ‘They were following rules’
The Mamelodi Hospital guards who attacked a visitor and dragged him out of a ward were acting in the best interests of the hospital, the Health Department has said.
|||Pretoria - The Mamelodi Hospital security guards - captured on video footage attacking a visitor and dragging him out of a ward - were acting in the best interests of the hospital, the Health Department has said.
They were only following rules and enforcing hospital policy, spokesman Steve Mabona said.
“It is not about manhandling, but about assisting health professionals to remove unco-operative members of the community,” he said on Monday.
“Casualty is a high activity area in any hospital. Therefore there is always a need to limit the number of people inside the unit at any given time.
“When there is hostility between hospital staff and a family member, security will be summoned to remove the hostile family member,” he said of an incident last week that sent shock waves across social media.
In the footage, taken by the mother of the baby, Tlotlo Thuo Ntehelang is seen being physically removed from the ward while he protests and asks why he is being denied the right to be part of his child’s treatment.
The uncompromising guards drag him away as the mother screams: “You have no right to do this.”
There was heavy criticism of the incident from social justice activists, who asked why the hospital would allow the men to cause such chaos in a hospital in a ward full of young babies.
On Monday, the Heath Department said people who did not follow hospital policy faced harsh action.
“The gentleman was invited back to the hospital for further engagement and redress.”
Pretoria News