GroundUp reports that community members of Intabazwe in the Free State have expressed shock after learning that the local clinic manager had been arrested along with two other nurses.

Mary Mosia and the two others nurses appeared in the Harrismith Magistrate’s Court on 15 September. They were released on warning and will make a second appearance on 2 November. Police said the suspects were all professional nurses who had been operating a private clinic without a license and no authorisation from the Department of Health. They were arrested for being in possession of stolen medication. One nurse worked in Kgosatsana Makolokoeng, the other at Busamed Hospital Group. It is not yet known how much of the allegedly stolen medication was taken from Intabazwe clinic, where Mosia was the manager, or how or who stole the medication. Department of Health Free State spokesperson Mondli Mvambi said the nurses had been placed on suspension while investigations were completed. Last month, GroundUp reported on the dire condition of Intabazwe clinic. A major complaint from patients and staff was that the clinic was overwhelmed by patient numbers and understocked with medication. Police spokesperson for the Thabo Mofutsanyana District, Mmako Mophiring, said that the police got a tipoff that an unauthorised clinic was operating in central Harrismith. Police arrested the three nurses and seized medication and an examination stretcher. The “private clinic” has been operating since 2019.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Yamkela Mopeli at GroundUp

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