Dear Honourable Minister Njabulo Mabuza,

GCINUMUZI SIFUNDZA – RESPONSE TO YOUR REQUEST FOR A LETTER

We would very much appreciate you answering the following questions, before we send you a letter to request a kidney transplant for Muzi:

1. Why do you require a letter from Marang House requesting the kidney transplant, as we are not a hospital and cannot perform the operation nor are we the legal guardian of the child?

2. Is it your statement that the doctors and social work department at the Johannesburg General Hospital never (officially) requested permission to perform a kidney transplant?

3. If you say that you never refused to pay for Muzi’s transplant, wouldn’t you agree that more than two years of postponing an answer on the matter is a form tacitly refusing or at least making things complicated?

4. Since you are now not refusing to pay, what is the problem with confirming in writing that you will pay for Muzi’s transplant? Especially since you are so confident that this will happen in April 2008? Your permission will allow the doctors to start the proceedings of ‘working-up’ the mother.

5. Why did you not respond to my fax of 13 August 2007 in which I kindly requested a conference call to speak to you about Muzi’s case to resolve the matter and offered my assistance with approaching the private sector for support?

6. Why wasn’t Muzi’s outstanding medical account paid towards the end of 2007 when the hospital requested this, which resulted in the hospital management of Johannesburg General Hospital wanting to stop Muzi’s life-sustaining treatments?

7. Referring to the previous question, if at that stage there was no money in the Phalala Fund, do you think that the fund is administered properly, especially considering that Muzi would have died without his treatments?

8. Since it appears that there is currently not enough money in the Phalala Fund, what steps will you be taking to ensure that the fund does not dry up again in future?

9. Are you aware of the fact that there is currently an outstanding hospital account for Muzi of ZAR 276.000 for treatments that he has received so far and when do you anticipate that this account will be settled?

10. Since Muzi alone has such a huge outstanding account, will there be sufficient money in the Phalala fund in April 2008 to cover the outstanding account plus pay for treatments and transplant for the next year? Also if you consider all your other patients who require medical treatment in South Africa?

11. Is it the policy of your department to keep children on dialysis for years while there is a kidney available, using government resources to pay for the dialysis treatments and an expensive hospital bed, instead of a once-off kidney transplant and post-operative care which makes far more sense economically on the long-term?

12. Since Dr Magagula referred Muzi to Johannesburg General Hospital and therefore was aware of his case and plight since the very beginning, did he never think of taking a more pro-active approach to help this suffering child? Instead of creating bureaucracy he could have for instance taken the initiative of making the transplant happen and used the assistance of very well meaning doctors, social work department and media in South Africa.

13. Can the Swaziland government please send a letter of thanks to Marang House and its sponsors for services provided to Muzi, that were an alternative to the expensive hospital bed that your government would have been liable for? Or can we alternatively send you an invoice (for a third of the price what you would have had to pay the hospital)?

14. Why does the Swaziland government not have any paediatric renal facilities available?

15. Do you as Minister of Health and as a person truly believe that Muzi was treated in a fair and humane way by your department and that you and your department did everything in their power to assist this child?

16. If Muzi was your son, would you be glad that I am asking these questions to the Minister of Health in Swaziland?

We are awaiting your response with great anticipation.

Yours sincerely,


Mr. Pieter Ernst, Jr.

CC: Various international media and human rights organisations.

As faxed to his office on 20 February 2008.

Labels: muzi