Riddle said when he arrived at the hospital in De Aar on Monday morning, he found patient transportation to take him to Kimberley after he had been told many times that the transport has broken down. He missed his doctor appointments last year because there was allegedly no operational patient transportation to take him to Kimberley. “Every time I am supposed to go to the hospital, I get told stories such as the transport has broken down or something has happened to it,” he said at the time.

ALSO READ: Northern Cape cancer patient struggles to be transported for treatment

Riddle could not attend his latest appointment scheduled for 8 March 2023 due to the nationwide protest by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu). However, on the day in question, he was also told that there isn’t any transport available. 

He said he was already informed that there is uncertainty that his next appointment will go as scheduled as there is still no operational patient transportation in the area. “When I went to the hospital to book transport for my next appointment, which is on 3 April 2023, I was told the transport has broken down and they are not sure it will be fixed in time for the appointment. But they put my name down on the list.”  

He concluded that what is being done to him is unfair because cancer is not an illness to play with, it is not like the flu. “If I had normal flu, I would get medication, but I have cancer and at the hospital in De Aar they do not have the right specialists to treat cancer, hence I have to go to Kimberley.”

ALSO READ: Health concerns over pit toilets in Upington – PHOTO GALLERY

Residents of the Paballelo Township in Upington have several health concerns because of the pit toilets they use. According to a female resident in the township, Fabean Olane, the pit toilets don’t get picked up or emptied by the municipality. The females in her family struggle because they easily pick up infections while using the pit toilets. Once these toilets or buckets are not emptied, worms start to roam around and it makes the children and family members sick. When they go to the clinic for medication, the nurses accuse them of sleeping with men and being promiscuous. “When we go to the clinic to get medication for the infections, they shout at us and say we are sleeping around. That is not true, it is because of the buckets,” she explained.

OFM News