Social worker stabbed at Mthatha government offices as suspect is arrested
The Eastern Cape Department of Social Development says it is reviewing access control and visitor management at the King Sabata Dalindyebo complex after an employee was seriously injured.
A female social worker was seriously injured when a woman allegedly entered the King Sabata Dalindyebo Office Complex in Mthatha and attacked her, the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development has confirmed. The suspect was arrested immediately after the incident.
The department has not disclosed what triggered the attack, and it has not said whether the two women knew each other. The suspect’s court appearance and the charges she faces have not been announced.
As Sunday World reported on 13 October, the stabbing has prompted the provincial department to announce an urgent review of security arrangements at the complex.
Eastern Cape Social Development MEC Bukiwe Fanta condemned the attack and said frontline workers should not be exposed to violence while serving communities.
“We strongly condemn this violent attack on one of our dedicated employees,” Fanta said. “Our social workers serve communities under difficult circumstances and should never be exposed to violence while performing their duties.”
Fanta said her department was engaging the Department of Public Works to review security at the KSD complex urgently. Those discussions cover strengthening access control, improving visitor-management procedures and identifying additional measures to protect employees and members of the public.
“The safety of our employees and service users remains a priority. We are working together with the Department of Public Works to identify security gaps and implement appropriate interventions,” she said.
The department said psychosocial assistance had been made available to employees affected by the stabbing, and that it would cooperate with the police investigation. It also acknowledged that social workers frequently deal with people experiencing severe emotional, social and personal difficulties, while stressing that compassion towards vulnerable people should never be mistaken for permission to threaten or assault employees.
For the social workers who staff the province’s welfare offices, the attack is the latest in a pattern that has been building across the country’s public health and welfare facilities for years.
Earlier this month, a nurse at Stad Clinic in Mahikeng, North West, was allegedly assaulted by a male patient who knocked her to the ground and reportedly kicked her in the head repeatedly. The 4 October incident reportedly began after the man became agitated while having his blood pressure checked, and he allegedly assaulted his girlfriend before attacking the nurse.
Earlier this year, a healthcare employee at Bedfordview Clinic in Ekurhuleni was reportedly strangled and stabbed by a 61-year-old male patient. Other employees, security personnel and patients intervened before police took the suspect away.
The Eastern Cape has recorded its own serious incidents. In November 2019, a male patient was stabbed to death inside All Saints Hospital in Ngcobo while doctors were treating him for an earlier stab wound. According to reports at the time, a knife-wielding man forced his way into the casualty ward, threatening medical personnel before attacking the patient. Doctors and nurses fled as the attacker allegedly stabbed the patient to death despite security guards being stationed at the hospital.
In May this year, armed robbers targeted patients and security guards outside Duncan Village Day Hospital in KuGompo City, stealing cellphones and security equipment. The robbers allegedly included a gunman and accomplices carrying pangas.
The Mthatha stabbing puts the same question back to the provincial government that the earlier cases put to the national and provincial health departments. Access control at public facilities depends on a security function that is often contracted, thinly staffed and shared between departments. At the KSD complex, the social development department does not control the building’s security in isolation. It shares that responsibility with Public Works, which is why Fanta’s statement points to joint talks rather than a departmental fix.
What the review will produce, and when, has not been set out. The department has not said whether the KSD complex will get additional guards, a different visitor system or physical changes to the entrance. The suspect remains in custody, and her first court date has yet to be confirmed.
