Health MEC Helen Sauls-August has been summoned to appear in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday to explain why the sheriff has been unable to serve papers on her regarding a patient who had a “foreign object” left inside her during a caesarean section.
The order by judge Elna Revelas relates to an 18-month quest by a patient at Uitenhage Provincial Hospital, Bulelwa Mbozana, 41, to get hold of her hospital records so she could pursue her civil claim against the department.
She is suing the department for R560,000 after the “foreign object” was forgotten inside her abdomen in the C-section more than two years ago.
To finalise her claim she needs access to her hospital records as she has not been told what was left inside her.
Mbozana said in papers she had been admitted on August 29 2016.
As her wound was not healing properly, she then had a number of procedures, eventually resulting in doctors reporting to her that a “foreign object” had been left inside her.
In May 2017 the court ordered the department to provide the records within seven days, but Francois Swanepoel, representing Mbozana, received no response.
After another salvo of lawyer’s letters, the state attorney responded in July 2017 and asked for two weeks’ grace.
According to papers, this was granted but after two weeks no hospital records were produced by the state attorney’s office either.
Two further letters received no response.
After there were problems with the service of papers and resultant extra legal costs in several cases against the department in 2017, superintendent-general Dr Thobile Mbengashe agreed that the senior manager for legal services, Mlungisi Mlambo, must be officially designated to accept the service of legal papers meant for the department and the MEC.
After Sauls-August took over as health MEC, however, in May 2018 the sheriff reported that they were actively frustrated in their efforts to serve papers on either the MEC or Mlambo.
“As a result I am effectively being prevented from further pursuing this application,” Mbozana said.
According to papers before court, sheriff’s officials have been told they must make an appointment with Sauls-August before serving the papers but she is never available.
Later they were told that Sauls-August would have to take legal advice before they could make an appointment.
Excuses encountered by the sheriff’s office included that the department had no record of the case, that Sauls-August was in Pretoria and that there was no senior staff to assist and that the appointment with the sheriff could not be made without taking legal advice.
Unable to effect service on Sauls-August, Swanepoel then applied for an order asking the MEC to explain why neither she nor Mlambo was available for the sheriff to serve papers on them.
This application was granted last week.
Revelas also asked that she be supplied with reasons why she should not make a punitive cost order against Sauls-August.
Following the granting of the order, the department produced the hospital records.
Swanepoel said they were not withdrawing their application to ask for an explanation.
Health spokesperson Lwandile Sicwetsha did not respond to several requests for comment.