NOTE: This story has been updated to include the Gauteng health department’s response

“My daughter was hurt while she was supposed to be safe.” These are the words of Patricia Williams from Geluksdal in Ekurhuleni, who claims that her four-year-old child, Ava, was assaulted while under medical care at Pholosong Hospital in Tsakane. The family opened a case of assault at Tsakane Police Station on 6 November 2025 and is demanding full accountability.

Ava has hydrocephalus, a severe neurological condition in which fluid builds up in the brain. On 2 November, she was admitted to Pholosong after having an epileptic episode. On 5 November, Patricia came upon a shocking scene. 

“Earlier that day, I took my baby to Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital for a dental appointment. She had already been at Pholosong Hospital for three days, but this appointment was booked long before she was admitted, so I had to take her,” Ava’s mother explains.

“I brought her back to Pholosong around noon. But visiting hours were over, so they told me I couldn’t stay with her. I had no choice but to leave her in that ward, trusting that she would be safe.

“When I came back at four o’clock for visiting hours, my whole world stopped. I found Ava bleeding. There was blood in her mouth, on the floor – even on her bedding. She had bruises on her left cheek and her leg,” Patricia tells Health-e News. “When I asked what happened to my child, no one could tell me anything. Not a single nurse could explain it.”

The family decided to go to the police.

Noticeable impact 

Patricia says the incident has had a massive impact on her child.  “My baby used to be so calm, but now she’s restless and cries all the time,” she adds. 

“I can see the fear in her eyes, and it breaks my heart. She’s not the same child she was before this happened.”

Ava cannot talk, she cannot walk, she cannot even see. “She depends entirely on adults for protection”, Patricia explains. 

“To think she was harmed in a place that is supposed to care for her is unbearable.”

A video taken earlier that morning shows Ava with no injuries at all. “So how does my child end up like this a few hours later?” Patricia asks.

It’s been nearly two weeks since this incident and the family has still not received a clear explanation from the hospital, and the police haven’t provided an update. 

Health department’s response

The Gauteng health department says it is aware of the incident.

According to the department, hospital management has taken several immediate actions and activated forensic services to conduct an independent assessment and complete a J88 report.

Additionally, internal interviews with staff present during the child’s admission were initiated and clinical investigations based on the child’s medical condition were undertaken. We are also cooperating fully with the South African Police Service (SAPS), as the parents have opened a criminal case.

Preliminary investigations have indicated no evidence of staff-inflicted harm; however, the timing of the alleged bruising is unclear, as it was raised shortly after the child’s return from the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital.

Formal disciplinary measures will not be instituted until the investigations by SAPS and forensic services are concluded.

There have never been any reported incidents of this nature within Pholosong Hospital’s children’s ward. – Health-e News