This is according to the North West MEC of Health, Madoda Sambatha, after his visit to the Job Shimankana Tabane (JST) Hospital in Rustenburg on Thursday. Sambatha said the department is not aware what exactly caused the fire and they are working closely with the municipality’s fire department to investigate the matter. He said the fire only affected a portion of the mental unit at the JST hospital.

Also read: North West Health MEC visits hospital following fire scare

“It's the fire department that is investigating the cause, so management is working with the municipality's fire department. We're [grateful] that the fire did not spread in the same way that we were engulfed by the fire at the hospital in Christiana. At least here it was contained to one area,” he said.

Sambatha applauded the engineers who built the hospital. He said that the reason why the fire could not do much damage to the building is the mitigation of the structures of the mental unit. He was, however, grateful that patients and staff members were not affected by the fire, even though one patient was sent to casualty ward after inhaling smoke.

OFM News