Talk 15 September 2022

2 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 15 September 2022 TALK OF THE TOW N
Student drowns in rip current
Teen at beach
with friends
TK MTIKI
Rhodes University says it is
not yet in a position to
comment on the death of
a 19-year-old student who
drowned at West Beach in Port
Alfred last weekend.
The teenager was swept out
to sea by a rip current while
swimming with friends.
National Sea Rescue
Institute (NSRI) spokesperson,
Craig Lambinon, said the duty
crew were alerted after reports
of a drowning in progress at
West Beach shortly before 4pm
on Saturday, September 10.
Lambinon said the young
student was being swept out to
sea in strong rip currents.
“We believe she had been
swimming and wading in waistdeep
water at the time while at
the beach with friends,” he said.
Lambinon said the NSRI
responded with rescue
swimmers and launched the
NSRI craft 11 Alpha.
The SAPS, Gardmed
ambulance services, Multi
Security officers and municipal
officials were also on the
scene.
Lambinon said the NSRI
rescue craft retrieved the young
student’s body in the surf line in
rough sea conditions. The team
immediately began cardio
pulmonary resuscitation (CPR),
and then transported her body
to the NSRI Port Alfred rescue
station where paramedics
continued CPR efforts.
“After all efforts to resuscitate
the female were exhausted,
sadly the 19-year-old …
believed to be attending Rhodes
University, was declared
d e c e a s e d ,” Lambinon said.
The young student was from
KwaZulu-Natal. Police
spokesperson Warrant Officer
Majola Nkohli said the police
had opened an inquest docket.
“Police are investigating an
inquest following the drowning
of a 19-year-old … at West
Beach in Port Alfred,” Nkohli
said.
Nkohli said their report
indicated that the teenager was
swept out to sea by a rip current.
“The identity of the deceased
is being withheld until a formal
identification is done. The
investigation continues,” Nkohli
said.
Rhodes communications
officer, Velisile Bukula, said the
university was not in a position
to comment at this stage.
“The matter is being handled
according to the university
protocols.
“We will comment in greater
detail once all the processes
have been followed,” Bukula
said.
BILLOWING SMOKE: An aeiral view of the burning building, which was most recently used as a
nurses’ home. Picture: SUPPLIED
FIRST RESPONDERS: A Makana firefighter extinguishes flames at a disused building at Settlers
Hospital at 1.20pm on Sunday, September 11. Pictures: SUE MACLENNAN
Red flag over security after Settlers Hospital fire
SUE MACLENNAN
A fire destroyed a disused
building at Settlers Hospital in
Makhanda at about midday on
September 11.
Health department
spokesperson Yonela Dekeda
said staff on duty noticed the fire
close to the southern boundary
of the hospital grounds and
quickly informed the CEO.
“On arrival, the CEO
realised the [disused] nurses’
home side building was on fire.
“The Fire Department and
SAPS were called and
responded swiftly to the scene.
“No injuries have been
r e p o r t e d ,” Dekeda said.
Makana fire manager
William Welkom confirmed that
the call was received at about
12.15pm.
“A crew immediately
responded and found a building
at the back of the hospital, used
as a nurses’ home, engulfed in
f l a m e s ,” Welkom said.
The fire crew brought the fire
under control and contained the
fire, Welkom said. “The entire
structure, constructed of
asbestos cladded and prefabricated
material, collapsed.
No-one was injured,” he said.
The building had been
unoccupied at the time.
Five fire vehicles and 10 fire
fighters had attended to the fire,
Welkom said.
The Rhodes University water
tanker, along with two Rhodes
staff members, were at the scene
to asssist.
Welkom and Dekeda said
the cause of the fire had not
been determined.
Though the flames were
extinguished, smoke was still
visible shortly before 3pm as
material continued to smoulder.
“The team is still busy
carrying out damping down
procedures, as there is a lot of
smouldering debris,” We l k o m
confirmed at 5pm.
There was confusion when
To t T first posted about the fire
on Facebook, with a former
nurse saying the nurses’ home
had been at the north-west end
DESTROYED: A second structure damaged in the fire.
of the hospital grounds, not the
southern end.
“Those buildings [where the
fire was] were the old Barratt
wa r d s ,” said one former nurse.
“We were nursing in the mid
60s-70s and it was very much in
use then.”
The Department of Health
has since confirmed that since
then, the (south end) buildings
were used as a crèche, then as a
nurses’ home.
A local source said they had
been abandoned since the start
of the Covid-19 lockdown in
March 2020. A walk in the veld
south of the hospital revealed
several breaches in the
perimeter fence, one as wide as
a car.
Across these breaches are
well-worn paths leading to areas
where signs suggest people
spend time there and possibly
sleep there. The hospital’s senior
management, accompanied by
security personnel, were later
seen inspecting the area.
Among other items, TotT
found several cut-open emptied
“e nve l o p e s ” of asbestos
cladding on the path outside the
broken fence, suggesting that
EASY ACCESS: One of several breaches in fencing that runs
along the southern edge of the hospital grounds.
metal pipes may have been
r e m ove d .
TotT has asked the
Department of Health whether it
is considering vandalism and/or
theft as a possible link to the fire,
given the ease with which it is
possible to enter and leave the
premises via the broken fence.
Because of the breaches in
the fence, we also asked what
measures the department would
take to secure the property, staff
and patients at the hospital.
Dekeda responded by
s ay i n g : “There are no vagrants
that occupy unused buildings at
Settlers Hospital and we have
not experienced any cable theft
in the hospital.
“The buildings that caught
fire are currently not being
utilised. The management of the
facility together with
Infrastructure at Head Office is
currently attending to the open
fence issue as part of
m a i n t e n a n c e .”
¿
29 Miles St, Port Alfred
PO Box 2871, Port Alfred, 6170
046 624 4356 / Fax: 046 624 2293
Chiara Carter, chiarac@dispatch.co.za
Sue Maclennan,maclennans@talkofthetown.co.za
Anneli Hanstein, hansteina@arena.africa
Chris van Heerden, vanheerdenc@arena.africa
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M U LT I S ECU R I T Y
CRIME REPORT
A spate of burglaries and
attempted break-ins were
reported in the past week.
Shortly after 4pm on
September 7 a client in
Boundary Road reported copper
pipes had been stolen. Armed
response and SAPS attended and
a case was opened.
In the early hours of Saturday,
a panic signal was received from
Park Road premises, where
copper pipes were stolen.
Also on Saturday, armed
response attended to a break-in
at Oriole Road, where cables
were stolen.
Early on Sunday a Bathurst
Street client phoned in,
requesting armed response after
a water pump was stolen. Later
an Elliot Lane resident also
reported a break-in, and there
was another in Gluckman Road.