A newly appointed nurse at the Madumane clinic in Tzaneen was attacked, raped and robbed on Wednesday evening.
The nurse was on her way to the clinic in a taxi just after dusk and apparently asked the taxi driver to drop her off in front of the clinic because it was already dark. They apparently refused.
Shortly after she got off, an unknown man attacked and assaulted her. The man apparently dragged her into a forest where he raped her, before he fled with some of her possessions around 01:00.
The woman then went to a house in the area to seek help.
Dr. Phophi Ramathuba, MEC for health in Limpopo, strongly condemned the incident.
“This gender-based violence and rape not only plagues society, but also paints a very bad picture of our province.”
According to Ramathuba, the incident is a serious setback for the department’s efforts to keep clinics open 24 hours a day.
“In this vein, we will struggle to hire professionals to work at our facilities. Issues of crime on healthcare workers are a major threat.
“We appeal to residents to help the police arrest this criminal,” says Ramathuba.
The victim was admitted to the hospital where she had to undergo, among other things, an operation.