ROSINA Thamae from Joe Slovo informal settlement in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, saw her daughter dying before her eyes.
"I watched my daughter taking her last breath and dying while nurses sat doing nothing," she said.
Busisiwe Thamae (23), a matric pupil at Oosrand Secondary School, died at the Reiger Park Clinic on Monday, 27 November.
Rosina (48) said her daughter was struggling to breathe.
The distressed Rosina said her daughter was taken to the emergency room, where she was given oxygen and a drip.
She said the nurses told them they were waiting for an ambulance to take Busisiwe to the hospital.
The distressed mum said she and her elder sister, Selinah Thamae (50), remained at the emergency room while the nurse left them.
She said her daughter was crying uncontrollably while waiting for the ambulance, which arrived when her daughter had already died.
"My daughter was screaming for help, saying she was in pain and was going to die. We had to take turns to hold her while she was in pain and also put the oxygen on her nose, and the drip had also fallen from Busisiwe's hand," said Rosina.
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Rosina claimed they called the nurses to come to help, but their plea was ignored.
"They never bothered to help us, and my daughter took the last breath before our eyes. I'm so hurt. The nurses never took my daughter's sickness seriously," said Rosina.
Busisiwe's aunt Selinah said they arrived at the clinic on Monday morning, 27 November, and they had to wait for the ambulance from 11am until it arrived before 3pm.
"Busisiwe died at about 2pm. They tried to resuscitate her, but it was too late. It was painful to watch Busisiwe dying in our hands while the nurses failed to assist us," said Selinah.
She said she'll never forget what happened.
"The voice of Busisiwe screaming for help calling us is haunting me. What's even worse is that she died at the place where she was supposed to get help," Selinah said.
Busisiwe's father, Sabelo Ketsekile (49), said his daughter wanted to be a journalist.
"She was writing her matric exams and was looking forward to going to university," he said.
Ekurhuleni municipal spokesman Zweli Dlamini said they were not aware of the incident.
"We have grieving parents who lost their child in the process; we have to respect their privacy and offer our sincere condolences to the grieving family. At the same time, we are going to investigate what transpired to ensure we get all the information so that we can determine what transpired and any further course of action," said Dlamini.
