Durban — Six-year-old Hubelo Ndaba never wasted an opportunity to tell his grandmother Zanele Ndaba how much he loved her, and whenever they drove past their church in Hillcrest, he would remind her to pray, if he thought she wasn’t.
Praying fervently was what his grandmother did on February 27 while medics tried to revive Hubelo after he had undergone a dental procedure at the Netcare Medicross Pinetown Day Theatre.
Their efforts were in vain.
Hubelo, a Grade 1 pupil at Highbury Preparatory School in Hillcrest, was laid to rest on March 2.
Previously on February 14, a 4-year-old girl visited the same operating theatre for a dental procedure and died.
Hubelo’s family questioned the facility’s response to the girl’s death.
“My biggest problem was that a child died there two weeks before Hubelo, and if the girl’s death was under investigation, why did they carry on operating there?” said Nandi Ngubane, Hubelo’s mother.
Ngubane directed those questions to a manager at the facility but said she didn’t receive a plausible explanation.
The Sunday Tribune broke the news of the children’s deaths last week, and Netcare said that due to the “highly unusual tragedies, medical procedures in theatre had been temporarily suspended”, until the circumstances surrounding the deaths were established.
Ngubane and her husband, Mondli Ndaba, live and work in Johannesburg while Hubelo lived with his grandmother, a retired teacher, at her Wyebank home.
“My mother-in-law called me that morning and I spoke to Hubelo via video call 10 minutes before his dental procedure. He was fine and healthy.”
But when her mother-in-law called back at around 11.30am, she was distressed but managed to ask Ngubane to contact her husband.
“Mondli told me that our son didn’t wake up. I have no words. I’m still shocked and trying to comprehend everything because my son was fine,” Ngubane said.
Ndaba said the child was referred to the facility to have a tooth removed. They arrived around 7.30am and she kept the child on a fast from the night before in preparation for the procedure.
Medical staff asked Ndaba to accompany Hubelo into theatre and say soothing things to him while the anaesthetic was administered.
“I told him how much I loved him.”
While Hubelo was being worked on, Ndaba prayed for the child.
“One of the medical staff said to me, Gogo, when he wakes you must give him something soft to eat.”
She continued to pray but became startled.
"When is he going to wake up?” she asked.
Ndaba said the response she got was they hoped the child would wake soon, and was assured the medic who worked on the child was an experienced professional.
She was then informed Hubelo was going to be transferred to another hospital because he did not regain consciousness.
“I believed he would be revived and had no idea it was going to become so serious. I phoned my priest and some friends and asked them to pray.”
Eventually, a doctor informed Ndaba of the child’s death.
Ndaba said life without Hubelo was too much to bear.
“I can't even go to the gym or do other daily activities because I am afraid about my response when people ask me about the boy that used to be with me.
“I miss preparing him for school and our drive back home.”
She said Hubelo’s death left them with many questions and hoped the investigations would provide answers.
Netcare, the Health Practitioners Council of South Africa and the SAPS did not provide updates on their respective actions and investigations.
Roland Lacock, principal of Highbury Preparatory, said their school’s community was “deeply saddened” by his death.
“Hubelo was a lively character who was much loved by his teachers and peers. While his time at our school was too brief, we valued every moment that he was with us.”
No response was received from the other family.
Sunday Tribune