Probe into Dr Mazwi death ‘still ongoing’, says MEC
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane says the investigation into the circumstances leading to the death of Dr Alulutho Mazwi is still ongoing.
The department was responding to a leaked internal report that allegedly found insufficient evidence linking a senior doctor to the medical intern's death.
The report also claims that the manager, who was on precautionary suspension, returned to work.
The 25-year-old Mazwi died while on duty at Durban's Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in May.
At the time, it was widely claimed that he was instructed to report for duty after informing his supervisor that he was not feeling well.
" I do want to indicate that it is not true that the supervisor is back at work. The supervisor has not been requested to come back yet. It is true that when Dr Mazwi passed on, we all at different levels instituted different investigations so that we are able to get to a conclusion on what actually happened,” says Simelane.
Simelane says the department's investigations were paused after the Health Minister asked the Health Ombud to take over the probe.
" As matters stand today, the investigation is not completed because the ombudsman is still busy with their investigation. In fact, last week Thursday, I was being interviewed by the ombudsman, and so was the department.
"We are all waiting for the outcome of the report of the ombudsman. Whether they will take the different reports that are there and include those reports into their investigation, or they are running their own process or their own investigation, is a matter that will be told to us as soon as they have concluded."
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