Limpopo claims 97% of households and business have power, but not everyone\u2019s convinced<\/a><\/p>\nShikwambane said the hospital management has already consulted snake handlers to improve the situation.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue of bush is quite a challenge now because the province has been receiving good rains, and it continues to rain. But plans are in place to [cut the bushes back] as soon as the rains subside, because it is summer and snakes are coming out. There will be more of them seen in such places,\u201d said Shikwambane.<\/p>\n
\u2018Hospital resembles a zoo\u2019<\/p>\n
Seun Mogotji, the leader of the Bolsheviks Party of South Africa said the presence of snakes around the hospital was not news to the hospital or the community of Moutse in Sekhukhune.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the reign of the hospital\u2019s former chief executive officer, it was not unusual to feast with snakes watching you like a hawk. We managed to kill one black mamba while it was slithering through the thick bushes behind the unused hospital buildings. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe hospital management promised to de-bush the area and spray snake repellents. But it looks like nothing happened since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mogotji said Philadelphia Hospital was beginning to resemble a zoo rather than a healthcare facility. \u201cYet this is an area where people are supposed to receive medical treatment in safety and dignity. The presence of snakes on hospital premises is not accidental; it is the result of years of neglect. <\/p>\n
\u201cOvergrown bushes, old and unused buildings, discarded hospital beds, and accumulated rubbish have created an environment that attracts snakes, rats and other dangerous animals. <\/p>\n
\u201cHospitals must be safe spaces. Pregnant women, sick patients, children, and the elderly should not live in fear of being bitten by snakes while accessing healthcare. This situation is unacceptable and poses a serious health and safety risk,\u201d he said. Mogotji pleaded with health MEC Dioketseng Mashego to prioritise cleaning the hospital before snakes make a habit of biting people within the hospital premises.<\/p>\n
Nurse \u2018shell-shocked\u2019 after encountering snake<\/p>\n
A hospital nurse who crossed paths with a snake on Thursday said she was still gripped by fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going to the patient\u2019s ward when a black snake passed through the tall grass, leading to the building where nurses, dieticians and social workers were enjoying their meal at lunchtime,\u201d said the nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all had to abandon our lunch boxes and run for dear life. Instead of getting into the ward, it slithered through the thick grass without any trace. I am still shell-shocked. I don\u2019t think I will ever walk through the path until the area is de-bushed or until the snake is killed,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
READ NEXT: Illegal side hustle gone wrong: Teens try to sell R20k python for R2k<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The provincial health department blames the rains for the increased snake activity at the hospital, but others blame…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[10824,141,10825,131],"class_list":{"0":"post-16944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-hospital","9":"tag-limpopo","10":"tag-snakes","11":"tag-south-africa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}