Health centre blamed for snake bite death

They allege that she was not given enough anti-venom to stave off the deadly bite.

Gogo Mbandlile Minah Nxumalo (83) of Matsanjeni in the Shiselweni region, died on Christmas Day at around 6pm while efforts were being made to transfer her to the Hlatikhulu Government Hospital.

She had spent two days at the Matsanjeni Health Centre.

In an interview, her son Celimphilo Nxumalo said the only anti-venom treatment she got was on Friday morning, shortly after she had been brought to the clinic.

He said they were told that under normal circumstances, the anti-venom treatment was supposed to be administered daily on his mother until she recovered.

Celimphilo alleged that nurses at the health centre confessed that on the day his mother died, the institution had no anti-venom left and the dose administered to her on the day she arrived was allegedly the last one.

He said before her demise, his mother had complications like the swelling of her left hand, neck and breasts.

Celimphilo also said she complained of a severe head-ache and feeling hot and she also vomited.

The late Nxumalo was bitten by a cobra on the left hand at around 4am while sleeping on sofa cushions in a passage.

It is suspected the snake was hiding in a cupboard situated along the passage and the old woman is said to have gone out of her bedroom to sleep in the passage after complaining of the hot temperature in her bedroom.

According to Celimphilo, he rushed to the homestead after receiving a distress call and took her to the Matsanjeni Health Centre where she was attended to by a nurse and a doctor from the VCT department.

He said he informed the nurse that the snake was a cobra after he had received a phone call from a relative that it was found hiding in the cupboard and had been killed.

"The hospital did not act in good faith because they knew that they did not have enough anti-venom. We were shocked when a nurse told us on the day she died that the anti-venom she got on the day she arrived was the last one.

"They should have prescribed the necessary treatment for us so we could get it from pharmacies or they should just have transferred her to another hospital," said Celimphilo.

Gogo Mbandlile was buried on Saturday morning after a night vigil. She leaves behind six children, 36 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren.

When called yesterday morning the Minister of Health, Benedict Xaba, asked this reporter to call him after 2pm.

When a call was put through after 2pm, his cellphone rang unanswered and he later sent a short text message (SMS) saying he was having difficulty in getting hold of the matron.

The minister said he was still trying to source more infor-mation.

When called again later his cellphone once again rang unanswered.

It is said over 20 people have been bitten by snakes around Matsanjeni and only one has died so far.

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