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The Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal has dismissed a Durban woman's claims that she woke up in a mortuary at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital.
- The KZN health department denied that a patient was declared dead and sent to a mortuary, only to be found alive.
- It said there were no records that the body of Constantia Junior Govender was admitted to a mortuary.
- Govender said a doctor told her she was declared dead after she didn't respond to oxygen.
The Department of Health in KwaZulu-Natal has dismissed a Durban woman's claims that she woke up in a mortuary at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital.
Constantia Junior Govender told the North Coast Rising Sun the incident happened in February.
She said she suffered a blackout on her way to visit a friend.
She told the publication she didn't remember being taken to the hospital or being examined by doctors. She only remembered waking up in the mortuary.
She said she screamed and was taken to the casualty ward, where the doctor told her she didn't respond to oxygen.
Govender said the hospital CEO and the public relations officer were not in their offices to receive her complaint.
Responding to the claims on Wednesday, Ntokozo Maphisa, the spokesperson for the department, said Govender was a known out-patient who regularly collected her medication from the hospital.
However, he said there were no records of the woman in the hospital or local mortuaries, including the Phoenix Medico-Legal Mortuary.
He said the facility did not record any missing individuals between February and May.
During April 2023, in particular, there were a total of eight Indian females admitted by the Phoenix mortuary. Seven were identified and released to [their] families. Of the eight bodies, seven were adults, and one was an eight-month-old baby. The body that has not been identified yet is still at the mortuary, awaiting identification.
In 2016, the Phoenix mortuary faced similar claims and was accused of keeping a living patient in its facilities after a car crash.
According to IOL, Msizi Mkhize, 28, was declared dead by paramedics after a car crash.
His family went to identify his body, but was told by an employee that he was breathing.
He died at the hospital five hours later, following unsuccessful attempts to save his life.
His family accused the paramedics of negligence.
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