'Hospital poses health hazard'

Citing their disgust at having to view corpses, naked patients and piles of medical waste, and their frustration with traffic congestion, a group of KwaZulu-Natal residents will go to the courts to try to stop a Pietermaritzburg private hospital from expanding.

The Bangalore Ramdeen Roads Residents Association wants the Pietermaritzburg High Court to set aside a decision by the Msunduzi Municipality to rezone the area to Special Area 35, which will allow Daymed Hospital in Raisethorpe to extend the existing medical centre.

The association also wants the court to stop the building owners and hospital operators from continuing with the construction.

The application is against the municipality, the buildings' owners, Dr Navind and Nerupa Dayanand, the MECs for health and cooperative governance and traditional affairs, the chairman of the Bids Appeals Tribunal and Seven Bridges Trading.

In court papers, the association's chairman, Russell Govender, said the residents of Bangalore and Ramdeen Roads found it difficult to access their driveways, and children could not play outside because ambulances arrived and departed from the hospital at high speed.

"There is an on-site view of wards which the residents have to endure. [They witness] patients showering and using ablution facilities, as well as hanging up their clothing from the balcony rails," he said.

Govender claimed residents also had to view the transport of corpses to and from the mortuary.

"The garbage is being stored in plastic rubbish bin bags at the rear of the building.

"[The] bags are ripped apart by stray cats, thereby carrying bloody rags, sanitary pads and other unhygienic material through all parts of the residents' homes and on their lawns," he said.

"In light of the hospital using the entrance in Bangolare and Ramdeen roads, this has no doubt significantly negatively impacted on our land use and will no doubt significantly decrease the commercial and residential value of our respective properties, thereby causing a decrease in our lifelong investment," he said.

Govender alleged that the hospital contravened various provisions of the National Building Regulation Act. The respondents have 30 days to file their opposing papers before the matter goes to court in December.