By the end of last week, it was just a few dozen signatures shy of its 25,000 signature target. Now it stands at 25,000 voices of outrage at how 34-year-old Shonisani Lethole died in Tembisa Hospital on 30 June, ostensibly from Covid-19 but under circumstances that have left Lethole’s family with many unanswered questions.The social media support and action by his friends and family has been enormous.
Siminya says that Lethole was healthy, didn’t have underlying conditions and was taking extra precautions against becoming infected by the coronavirus. In the next few days, Lethole was apparently moved to a Covid-19 ward. At one point during his first days in hospital, he tweeted Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize directly, saying: “didn’t eat for 48 hours”. He also tweeted that problems at the hospital “are becoming unbearable”. He got no response.
“Then, on Thursday, they told my uncle to come to the hospital and that’s when they told him Shoni had passed away the day before and that it was from Covid,” he says. Lethole’s death made the front cover of a magazine dedicated to promoting African brands, and a live-stream music and spoken word poetry event is being held this Sunday in celebration of his life.
“We think this is an opportunity for the Department of Health to win back people’s trust in the public health service. We want to be able to honour Shoni’s life by fighting for something good to come out of tragedy,” says La Grange.