In one week, the Eastern Cape Department of Health has been slapped with R40.2m in court orders for damages to be paid for babies born with brain damage because of hospital negligence, says a report in The Herald.

Judge Richard Brooks said in one of the judgments that he was seeing an alarming trend in the way the department used public funds to conduct litigation in an indifferent, inefficient and expensive manner. The department is facing R17bn in damages claims for hospital negligence, with the bulk of the claims dealing with babies suffering brain damage during birth.

A case was brought by Nokubonga Mvumbi on behalf of her son, Kungawo, who was born with serious brain damage due to negligence during his delivery. Brooks said, in this case, superintendent-general Dr Thobile Mbengashe had failed to adhere to a court order to attend a hearing and explain why it was ‘impossible’ for the department to furnish its legal team with instructions.

Brooks said in cases like that of Mvumbi, the department violated the rights of children in its care by first denying them access to proper healthcare and then denying them access to justice. Brooks said the court viewed Mbengashe’s lack of interest in the matter in a most serious light. He ordered the department to pay Kungawo R16.9m that was to be administered through a trust, and pay Nokubonga R1.8m in damages.

Full report in The Herald (subscription needed)