Gcobisa Ngalo, the mother of a child with cerebral palsy who requires 24-hour care, has once again been failed by the Eastern Cape Department of Health, which has still not finalised the support and settlement process promised to her family several years ago.
I have written to Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa to establish why this matter remains unresolved after 15 years, and what immediate steps will now be taken to ensure that Ngalo and her daughter receive the support they need.
A fair, swift, and dignified resolution is long overdue.
Lwavela Ngalo was born at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane in October 2011 after allegedly being deprived of oxygen during labour and birth. Her mother says she was left to deliver her baby unsupervised. Lwavela was born oxygen-deprived, suffered multiple seizures, and now lives with severe disabilities. She cannot talk, walk, sit, or eat without assistance.
The emotional and socio-economic toll on her mother has been devastating.
The Department of Health, senior officials in the Medico-Legal Unit, and the Office of the Premier cannot claim ignorance of this case. Officials met with Ngalo on several occasions in 2021. At the final meeting, they allegedly refused to disclose the settlement terms because she had brought a legal professional to help explain the agreement to her in plain language, pro bono.
In September last year, Ngalo was advised to make a written submission to the Medico-Legal Unit, motivating why she required support. She did so. By January this year, she had still received no response. When she followed up, she was told that the unit was still awaiting input from the Department of Health and the Office of the Premier.
She is still waiting.
This family has already endured the consequences of alleged state negligence. Ngalo lives from hand to mouth in eQonce, while her daughter has been placed in a state facility in Gqeberha, making regular visits extremely difficult and deepening the family’s hardship.
How much more must this mother endure? How many more years must she be forced to live with uncertainty, poverty, and anguish while officials delay?
The Eastern Cape Department of Health has suffered massive financial losses over many years due to successful medico-legal claims, many linked to cerebral palsy cases arising from alleged negligence during childbirth.
The department has repeatedly claimed that it is implementing strategies to reduce these claims, including improving clinical capacity at highly litigated hospitals and establishing a Medico-Legal Unit to assess the merits of cases and reduce fraudulent claims.
Yet this same system appears unable, or unwilling, to resolve legitimate cases such as Ngalo’s.
The department currently carries a contingent medico-legal liability of approximately R23.3 billion, while refusing to establish a proper risk-mitigation fund to cover compulsory payments arising from court rulings and settlements.
Instead, these claims are paid from the operational budget. This leaves hospitals, clinics, ambulances, and frontline services under even greater pressure, with fewer resources for medical equipment, surgical equipment, medicines, and patient care.
The DA-led Western Cape has taken a different approach, with a lower contingent liability of about R3 billion and a risk-mitigation mechanism to help protect operational health budgets from the impact of successful claims.
The Eastern Cape cannot continue treating medico-legal failures as a paperwork problem while mothers and children carry the consequences for the rest of their lives.
Premier Mabuyane and MEC Capa must account for the continued delay in this case and ensure that Ngalo receives a clear, written response with firm timelines for finalisation.
Until the Department of Health cleans house, improves clinical care, and stops shielding officials from accountability, families like the Ngalos will continue to be denied the dignity, justice, and support they deserve.