South Africa

January 2005

  
Bill for birth in hospital car park, (The Star, 2005-01-22):-A woman in the throes of labour has been kicked out of Johannesburg General Hospital - and had her baby in the hospital car park. To add insult to injury, she was later slapped with a bill for more than R26 000. Kongolo Mwamba Titi (29), who is an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was admitted to the hospital at 11pm on December 13 2003, but at 6am the following day - after hospital staff learnt she didn't have the R15 000 to pay for the procedure - she was unceremoniously told to go. Her husband, Louis Titi, had to lift her himself and put her in a wheelchair. To complicate matters, taxis refused to transport her because she was about to give birth at any moment. As Loius frantically searched for transport, Kongolo, who was bleeding and crying because of severe pain, gave birth at 6.30 am. Two paramedics who witnessed her plight helped her with the process. The ambulance staff took her back into the hospital, where the placenta was removed, and the baby was cleaned. However, Kongolo was then allegedly kept in hospital for four days and not allowed to leave. Although she was eventually released, the Kongolos had not heard the end of the saga: when interviewed in their one-roomed flat on the roof of a hotel in Hillbrow, they told Saturday Star they had received an account totaling R26 407. Popa Maja, spokesperson for the department of health, said "the general policy is that foreigners have to pay for services rendered because we are protecting resources meant for our citizens". He said, however, that in emergency situations the hospital should not ask for money. Asked whether he thought this case constituted an emergency, he said it did, and promised that he would investigate the matter. Dr Mandla Mazizi, chief director at the Gauteng health department, said what happened to Kongolo should not happen. "If it is an emergency it doesn't matter if you come from the moon - we have a duty to treat you." He speculated that there may have been a "miscommunication" between admission staff and the couple regarding the final resolution of the case, and promised to investigate the incident. "I'm sure we will be able to resolve it amicably", he said.  
South African Migration Project (SAMP) - Queen's University - http://www.queensu.ca/samp