The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa is demanding that the Health Department beef up security at hospitals and other institutions.
This after an intruder broke into the nurses’ home at the Colesberg Hospital in the Northern Cape on Saturday and confronted a nurse who was sleeping in her quarters.
Denosa said the woman shouted and made enough noise to wake up other nurses who then had the presence of mind to take photos of the intruder who was eventually cornered and arrested.
“Many health workers are not as lucky as the community service nurse was, and many have met their deaths in a similar fashion,” Denosa said.
Last month Limpopo police offered a reward of up to R100 000 for information that could lead to the arrest and subsequent conviction of the suspects responsible for the attacks on doctors at the Letaba Hospital in which three were shot and wounded and another break-in at the Lebowakgomo Hospital.
“That an intruder can just enter the Department premises with weapons speaks volumes about the need to tighten security,” the nursing union said.
