Police confirm fatal shooting at King Edward Hospital
KZN police have confirmed that two people were shot dead at the King Edward Hospital in Durban this morning.
It's alleged a group of men, believed to be workers who've been striking over outsourcing, shot and wounded a security guard who had been on patrol in the early hours of this morning.
The police's Thulani Zwane says the guard managed to return fire.
"Two of those intruders were shot and killed and the third one was arrested by the police. The arrested suspect will be facing charges of attempted murder and he will appear in court soon," he said.
"During the investigation, one of the deceased was found in possession of an unlicensed firearm and live rounds [of ammunition]," Zwane added.
Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo has commended the security guard and issued a warning to those 'creating instability'.
"We want to warn them that in all our hospitals, since they started this instability, we are actually ready for them. They must rather discuss this matter with their employers than to intrude on our hospital premises and create havoc, threatening people and creating instability. If they continue doing this, more and more of them will meet fire on the premises of each and every hospital," Dhlomo said.
In the last couple of weeks, there have been strikes at a number of Durban hospitals by cleaners, security guards and kitchen staff who are complaining that the companies that they are contracted to are pocketing most of the money they are being paid by institutions for their services.
The workers say they want the health department to employ them directly with the view of getting better pay.