Eastern Cape

Family Questions Weekend Doctor Shortage After Hospital Death

Published

4 weeks ago

July 14, 2026

A family is demanding answers after their aunt allegedly died at Mjanyane Hospital in Engcobo because there were “no doctors on duty over the weekend”.

The woman was rushed to the hospital last Saturday. But the family say nurses told them to just wait.

“They said nothing could be done and we must wait for the doctors on Monday,” a relative told Komani News

The aunt died early on Sunday morning.

“How can a hospital have no doctors on weekends? What happens to people who are injured? What happens to people who need help now?” the relative asked.

The family now wants the Eastern Cape Department of Health to investigate what happened at Mjanyane Hospital.

“We’ve heard stories before. But now it’s our own flesh and blood. We don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” they said.

Komani News has sent questions to the Department of Health about weekend staffing at Mjanyane Hospital. We are waiting for their response.

Related Topics:Eastern Cape Eastern Cape Department of Health

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Tembile Sgqolana

Tembile Sgqolana is an award winning freelance journalist and photojournalist whose work has been published in Health-e-news and Daily Sun. He has worked for a number of publications in his 14 years career as a journalist, which include Queenstown Express, The Rep, Daily Dispatch, Knysna Plett Herald and Daily Maverick. In his career he has covered different s beats which include entertainment, sport, hard news, politics, crime, court, environment and Climate change. Born in Komani, he has spent most of his life working in the area. He loves news, reading and photography.