Snakes have created a climate of terror for nurses and patients at Philadelphia Hospital in Limpopo. Picture: supplied. Patients, nurses and doctors at the Philadelphia Hospital in Moutse, Dennilton, in Limpopo are living in constant fear after venomous snakes have started entering the hospital.
The province received good rainfall in December, while most snakes began emerging from hibernation in search of food. During this period, at least two nurses and one hospital visitor have confirmed seeing snakes slithering outside the hospital buildings, verandas, wards, and kitchens, the latest being this week. The Limpopo provincial health department has also confirmed a snake was seen around the hospital.
“Yes, it is true that there is a snake that was seen in the premises of the hospital,” departmental spokesperson Neil Shikwambane toldThe Citizenon Friday. Shikwambane said the hospital management has already consulted snake handlers to improve the situation. Seun Mogotji, the leader of the Bolsheviks Party of South Africa said the presence of snakes around the hospital was not news to the hospital or the community of Moutse in Sekhukhune.
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“During the reign of the hospital’s former chief executive officer, it was not unusual to feast with snakes watching you like a hawk. We managed to kill one black mamba while it was slithering through the thick bushes behind the unused hospital buildings. “The hospital management promised to de-bush the area and spray snake repellents.
But it looks like nothing happened since,” he said. Mogotji said Philadelphia Hospital was beginning to resemble a zoo rather than a healthcare facility. “Yet this is an area where people are supposed to receive medical treatment in safety and dignity.
The presence of snakes on hospital premises is not accidental; it is the result of years of neglect. “Overgrown bushes, old and unused buildings, discarded hospital beds, and accumulated rubbish have created an environment that attracts snakes, rats and other dangerous animals.
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