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The Mpumalanga government could be taken to court to release people quarantined in a resort following a barrage of complaints about unbearable and unhygienic conditions.
Seven individuals – who were among a group of South Africans repatriated from Mozambique on April 27 and were taken to the government-owned Zithabiseni Resort & Conference Centre outside Groblersdal – claim they haven’t been tested and are living in a place teeming with cockroaches and rotten cardboard. They also said that they were being served “substandard” food, and that false eyelashes were found in some meals.
The Mpumalanga department of health initially quarantined 115 people at the resort, which is owned by the Mpumalanga Parks & Tourism Agency. Twenty of them were international tourists. Eight left the site after completing their 14-day quarantine period and testing negative for Covid-19.
- The Zithabiseni Resort is run-down and dilapidated. Most of the rondavels have either been burnt down or in ruins, and are conducive to the breeding of disease. Although the complainants say they stay in better rondavels, they’re uncomfortable with the squalour that surrounds them;
- There are no toilet seats in most of the bathrooms. Taps are broken and tiles are falling off. Bathtubs and showers are grimy and there are live, exposed electric wires in these areas;
- On the day of their arrival, there was no toilet paper and no towels. There were also no cleaning services, laundry facilities or cleaning materials;
- There’s a dump site on the premises; and
- Food is delivered without gloves (everything is manually wrapped in foil), the kitchen entrance is dirty and staff members engage with others without gloves or masks.
Melanie Nel, who spoke on behalf of the group of complainants, said: “They laugh at a diabetic and don’t support the need for diabetic food. Boiled eggs served for breakfast were cracked open [the whites of the eggs were showing]. Everyone’s complaining about the food. We’re not eating it and are currently providing for our kids from the limited supplies we were able to bring with us.”
Nel says the complainants are going to court, but hasn’t clarified what application they wanted to bring forward.
“We’re in the high court next week Wednesday,” she said.
“The bottom line is that we’re all healthy, but are concerned that we and our kids will get sick in this place. All we want is to get tested and if we’re negative, we want to go home. We’re willing to pay for our own tests, but we’re not allowed to.”
Mpumalanga health spokesperson Dumisani Malamule has not responded to written questions that were sent to him on Wednesday.
Mpumalanga Parks & Tourism Agency spokesperson Kholofelo Nkambule said the Zithabiseni Resort & Conference Centre was a suitable facility and, even though it had dilapidated buildings, the ones selected for quarantine were in a satisfactory and habitable condition. The dilapidated chalets, said Nkambule, were located on the outskirts of the resort.
“It’s important to note that most of those repatriated from Mozambique are frustrated and don’t want to be quarantined. As such, they’re focused on ensuring that their quarantine period is reduced to three days instead of the prescribed 14.
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We’ve noted their concerns that the accommodation provided doesn’t meet their preferred and expected standards, hence their claim that they’ve been under self-quarantine previously, and that there’s therefore no need to be quarantined again.”
She said that some of the complaints will be followed up.
“Even though they’re unlikely, the allegations of people laughing at diabetic patients and false eyelashes found in the food are taken seriously and will be investigated as a matter of urgency.”
The management of the resort is addressing all minor maintenance issues, is procuring toilet seats and repairing broken showers, said Nkambule. She added that towels, toilet paper, cleaning services, washing facilities and cleaning materials had been provided.
“The dumping site is far away from the quarantine site where the guests are accommodated. The pictures that were posted on social media by the guests provide a distorted view of the actual location of the dumping site. The resort’s management is currently working on clearing that site as a matter of urgency,” she said.
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