Patients Froze in SA Psychiatric Hospitals: Health Ombud’s 2025 Report Exposes Tragic Negligence

A collapse of care, power and leadership: how preventable deaths unfolded inside Northern Cape’s public hospitals

In a story that sounds too shocking to be true, psychiatric patients in the Northern Cape literally froze to death while under state care.

South Africa’s Health Ombud, Professor Taole Mokoena, has released a blistering 2025 report detailing how electricity failures, staff shortages, equipment failures, and poor management contributed to avoidable deaths at two provincial facilities: the Northern Cape Mental Health Hospital and Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital.

“During this time when there was no electricity, patients were freezing to death literally,” Mokoena said.

Dark wards, no heat, and patients left to die

The tragedy was triggered by severe power failures caused by cable theft and vandalism at the substation serving the Kimberley hospitals. With no electricity, nurses had to care for patients using their cell phone flashlights. Doors became security risks when electromagnetic locks failed. There was no heating, no lighting, and no working emergency equipment.

Among the lives lost were:

• Tshepo Ndimbaza, who died of hypothermia and hypoglycemia

• Seprien Mohoto, whose pneumonia was left untreated despite admission

• D’Ibrahim, who survived critical hypothermia but remains affected

Another patient, John Louw, underwent surgery and remains paralysed.

Hospitals in collapse: no nurses, no gear, no leadership

The Ombud found that both hospitals were operating below 60 percent capacity, with some shifts staffed entirely by enrolled nurses or assistants, with no professional nurses present. Emergency kits had flat batteries. Staff resorted to using personal phones to communicate. Some drugs were missing entirely. Resuscitation was delayed or impossible due to a lack of equipment.

At an institutional level:

• Protocols and guidelines didn’t exist

• Patient vitals weren’t updated or monitored

• Medical notes were inconsistently recorded

• Infrastructure was visibly decaying, blocked sewage, broken windows, sagging ceilings

Minister Motsoaledi: “This is grossly wrong”

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, who triggered the investigation back in October 2024, reacted with visible frustration. He stated the findings were “unacceptable” and confirmed he would refer implicated staff to professional councils for accountability.

“We must not sentence people to more training when they’ve done something grossly wrong,” he said.
“Some of these deaths could’ve been prevented. This is criminal neglect.”

He also confirmed that parts of the hospital’s problems date back to chaotic original construction, where engineers found that a multi-storey building lacked a proper foundation; some individuals involved are now serving jail time.

What happens now: hiring, funding and fixing

Motsoaledi confirmed that the hiring of nurses has already begun and that the Treasury has allocated R6.7 billion in 2025 to support health system upgrades, including:

• Recruitment of 1,200 doctors, 200 nurses and 250 healthcare workers

• Procurement of beds, pyjamas, mattresses, and critical hospital supplies

He added that linen procurement contracts (specifically with Tropical Enterprise) would be investigated for poor quality and that workshops staffed by people with disabilities will now be used to supply better garments.

Why this matters: not just a hospital problem

What happened in the Northern Cape is more than an isolated incident. It’s a symptom of a larger crisis in public healthcare. From infrastructure built on bad foundations to leadership teams made of temporary placeholders, the system failed the very people it was meant to protect.

And the cost was measured in human lives.

As the country moves to repair the damage, the 2025 Health Ombud report stands as a grim reminder: when the power fails, literally and figuratively, it is the most vulnerable who pay the highest price.

Also read: “I Lost My Grandson, But She’s Still My Daughter”: Jayden-Lee’s Grandfather Breaks His Silence

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Source: The Citizen

Featured Image: iStock