Bethesda Hospital running dry amid protest
The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department says the Bethesda Hospital in northern KZN is running low on food and medical supplies.
Angry community members in the Ubombo area have been protesting since Wednesday blocking access routes to the facility.
Protestors are unhappy over issues relating to water and housing.
They have barricaded roads in the area affecting two entrances to the hospital.
Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo says some families have not been able to bury their loved ones as they could not reach the hospital to collect their bodies.
''We are airlifting food from nearby hospitals and dropping it off at the Bethesda Hospital. We have also had to airlift some patients who are in critical conditions to other hospitals in the province.
''Staff members have been hugely inconvenienced as the protestors will not allow them in or out of the hospital and as a result some of them have not been able to take their weekends off,'' he said.
The Umkhanyakude District Municipality is conducting meetings over the protests.
(Photo via Twitter, @ShehanaGaibie)