South Africa’s ‘hospital of death’ back in the spotlight

Staff negligence and poor conditions at Witbank General Hospital in Mpumalanga, which has come to be known as the “hospital of death”, continue to affect patients despite ongoing calls for the province to address the facility’s needs.

Complaints made on social media include staff allegedly sleeping on the job at night, patients being told they are acting sick, poor medical judgement, and long waiting times.

A post made on 17 November 2025 referenced two incidents at the hospital, one occurring on “10 November” and another on 11 December estimated to be the year prior.

The first involved a 2-year-old child who had been crying incessantly for several days “due to severe pain around her belly button”.

When taken to the hospital, it is alleged that the doctor did not perform any scans, blood tests, or examinations. Instead, the child was “given a Panado”, and the mother was told there “was nothing wrong”.

The second incident involved someone who visited the hospital after they began vomiting blood.

“At the hospital, the doctor only provided MayoGel and no drip, no medication, and no further testing,” the post said.

MayoGel is an over-the-counter medicine used to provide relief from heartburn, indigestion, and gastric discomfort.

“The following day, the patient went to a clinic, where antibiotics and proper medication were immediately provided.”

The user said that these two incidents were not the first time their family had issues at the hospital, alleging that their grandmother, who has a chronic illness, was misdiagnosed as having a stomach bug.

Issues at the hospital came to light in 2022 when it was discovered that patients were forced to sleep on the floor, benches, or in wheelchairs due to a shortage of beds.

In one incident, an intellectually disabled man was reported to have been left to sleep on the floor when he arrived at the hospital to receive treatment.

“I can’t describe the horrors I have seen in this hospital,” one patient said on social media.

“One must be grateful to be discharged from here alive, because once you get here you are signing your own death certificate. The conditions get worse every day.”

Several oversight visits

In 2023, an oversight visit by Democratic Alliance MP Michele Clarke revealed that little had been done since staff at the hospital had allegedly endangered the life of a woman and her newborn son.

The patient, Cindy Steyn, who had visited the hospital a few weeks before going into labour to have a burst appendix removed, was initially refused a Caesarean section.

This was despite a nurse experienced with her wounds advising staff that she would not be able to deliver the baby any other way. She was eventually given the Caesarean, but allegedly did not receive antibiotics to help prevent infection.

A few months later, a young mother died after allegedly not receiving the necessary care at the hospital for severe symptoms developed following childbirth.

Her family were left without answers after being told to leave on the night that she died.

The DA oversight visit found a severe shortage of beds, personnel and supplies, medicine stock-outs, and maintenance and equipment failures that create an unsafe and unsanitary facility.

Newsday contacted the Mpumalanga Department of Health but did not receive a response by publication.

However, the DA’s Mpumalanga spokesperson for health, Bosman Grobler, told Newsday that the MEC for Health in the province “has intervened at Witbank Hospital specifically by introducing a new approach”.

“We wait in anticipation to see if this is going to make the much-needed difference.”

Grobler added that Witbank Hospital is not unique in its performance and lack of services to patients.

“It is the opinion of the DA that the province can do a lot better to serve patients in the province (and Witbank) if the procurement processes are streamlined,” Grobler said.

“The department also needs to do a proper investigation into whether they are getting good value for every rand spent, whether that is on goods, medicines, equipment, or services.”

Grobler says that nursing staff should be motivated and kept safe in order to improve service delivery.

In 2019, nurses at Witbank Hospital refused to return to work for fear for their safety after a man was shot several times inside the facility.