On Monday, September 15, members of the Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP) were denied entry to the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH) in Durban, where they came with the demand that the head of the nursing department — a foreign national — be removed and replaced with a South African.
The MKP’s labour desk, led by national spokesperson Mthobisi Shinga, stated that hospital management refused them access. They alleged the hospital was acting on instructions from KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane. They also claimed that parliamentary representatives, including Nkosentsha Shezi of the National Assembly and Pearl Gasa from the KZN legislature, were similarly denied entry.
Shinga declared that MKP’s next move will be an unannounced visit to the hospital. Their demand: the current head of nursing, a Zambian national, must be removed and replaced by a South African.
In response, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health issued a strongly worded statement, characterising the MKP’s allegations as part of a “malicious smear campaign.” According to the department, claims that a foreign national was improperly hired as Nursing Manager were false and intentionally misleading.
The department provided the following clarifications: the position of Nursing Manager had been advertised twice, but no candidate meeting the required equity criteria was found in those rounds. The process was overseen by a senior official from the head office. After both unsuccessful advertisements, Dr. Ndemera, a Critical Care Specialist Nurse holding a PhD in Nephrology, was appointed in an acting capacity.
Further details about Dr. Ndemera were also disclosed. She has reportedly been employed at IALCH since before 2015, has lived legally in South Africa for over 25 years, is fluent in Zulu and Venda, and currently serves as Assistant Nursing Manager for Critical Care. The Health MEC, the department stated, had no involvement in selecting Dr. Ndemera, nor had she met Dr. Ndemera prior to recent public statements.
The statement concluded by urging caution from the public and media, warning against lending credibility to what they termed “defamatory posts” and “fabrications” meant to politicise the health sector and tarnish the reputations of both MEC Simelane and the hospital. The department affirmed it would take all available legal steps to protect its integrity and that of its officials.
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