Doctor uses own money to rebuild practice

Dr Mpho Mushadu, from Ndofaya Medical Centre in Meadowlands, Soweto, would rather not talk about the looting last July. It destroyed his practice.

“It is something I want to forget about. Every time when people ask about it, I don’t want to go there,” he said.

The medical centre was destroyed when looters took everything and smashed the walls and ceiling, in spite of the building being next to the Meadowlands police station.

Mushadu said he was at home when the looting and vandalism erupted on the night of July 12. When he arrived the next morning, he was shocked by the extent of the damage.

“We are inside the mall. Mostly the security is handled by the mall ... Everything happened in view of the police station. Did anyone go and ask the police who was in charge and how come they looted the mall right here and there was no planning?”

Ten people were reportedly killed during a stampede at the mall that night.

“It was like a war zone. They took everything. I couldn’t believe what they were going to do with some of the medical equipment,” said Mushadu, adding that specialised equipment, such as an ultrasound, diathermy machine and surgical instruments, were snatched.

“They took everything — the tables, the chairs, and wheelchairs. There was nothing left. The walls were broken, the doors were broken. It was like they camped the whole night inside taking things.”

Rebuilding the medical centre was like starting a whole new practice, he said.

“What also helped was Shoprite wanted to get back to business. They were in and it was easy for us to rebuild and start working,” he said.

Getting back to business meant dipping into his savings. If he had waited for the South African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) to pay out, it would have meant more delays.

“We had to use money from our own pockets and rebuild as soon as possible. It [cost] more than half a million rand to rebuild the practice,” Mushadu said.

The looting left a large dent in his finances and he had to pay his employees while his practice was closed. While it was being rebuilt, he saw his longtime patients at a nearby pharmacy.

Business is slowly returning to normal, but Mushadu is still feeling the financial pinch of the looting.

“It [affected] bonuses. Staff had to get their bonuses late. The unrest happened in July, and [in] August and September we were building. When we started getting back it was almost December, so I had to postpone their bonuses to early this year,” he said.

“I think the mindset needs to change. I don’t know whether it’s people frustrated with the high unemployment rate — young people sitting at home doing nothing.

“What must they do? They will do crime as they need money.

“It is not justifiable that people destroy infrastructure, but what are we doing? What is the government doing?”