The Petrusburg father of the baby girl, who passed away 14 days after she was born, Kgethang Kesilwe, told OFM News he received a call from his wife on Saturday 11 February 2023 while he was at work in Koffiefontein. She informed him that their child is sick. 

He told his wife to immediately contact a nurse who then suggested that an ambulance should be called as the child needs an oxygen machine. According to Kesilwe, his wife called an ambulance at 04:00 and was told that the ambulance would only arrive at 07:00 that day because it was delivering another patient, who had just given birth, to Bloemfontein.

“I fail to understand why my family was informed that the ambulance will only arrive hours later because Bloemfontein is not far from Petrusburg. I arrived in Petrusburg at about 16:55 in the afternoon and called emergency services several times. My wife and I have two separate reference numbers that we were given when we requested the ambulance to come and assist our baby who had only 14 days on this earth. I made several calls requesting assistance and I was eventually told that the ambulance is in Petrusburg. I saw an ambulance dropping off a patient not far from where I stay. I tried to wave to stop the driver of the ambulance but he ignored me and drove past me,” he added.

Kesilwe said the ambulance eventually arrived at 20:00 and that is when the baby passed away.  

“As a father, I am deeply pained by the death of my baby. My wife and family are also hurt by how the child passed away. We believe that if the ambulance arrived on time, our baby would not have passed away. I want to know why the person who was supposed to assist us at that time did not come, because the people who came are the ones who are working the night shift,” he concluded.

OFM News has sent enquiries to the Department of Health. Spokesperson Mondli Mvambi responded and said an investigation into the matter has been launched.

OFM News