Durban – Two men have died after they were turned away from a hospital where there was no doctor on duty.
The families of Marius Hayward, 31, and Nico Nel, 27, are furious and demanding answers, reported the Sunday Tribune.
The men were seriously injured in a crash in the Durban city centre early on Sunday morning and rushed to Addington Hospital where paramedics were told there was no doctor on duty and the men needed to be taken to another hospital 30min away.
Both men, who had been flung from a bakkie during the accident, died shortly afterwards.
One of the medics who didn’t want to be identified said Hayward had needed urgent hospital treatment and said he would have survived had he not been turned away by the hospital.  
“I am sure that had a doctor attended to him at Addington, his chances of survival would have improved dramatically.”
Another medic, Rescuecare paramedic Garrith Jamieson said: “This incident is just one of many. In the past month they have turned away dozens of patients. We need to draw the line somewhere.”
Nel’s sister, Anel Meyer, was shocked to hear that her dying brother had been turned away.
“It makes me so angry that I feel physically ill. He might have lived had the hospital not sent them away,” she said.
She said her brother’s handyman business was just taking off.
“He was so ambitious and things were starting to go his way with his business, and he was so happy. I will always remember his smile and how, just by being in a room, he would lift everyone around him. He was very caring,” said Meyer.
Hayward left two children, aged 8 years and 8-months-old.
A spokesperson for the department of healthy said they were looking into the matter.