First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
It’s the first Friday evening since President Cyril Ramaphosa relaxed the ban on the sale of alcohol and the staff at the Tshepong Hospital in North West are bracing themselves for a busy time.
Already, there are a few people waiting to be attended to.
A woman is heard screaming in pain as a doctor attends to her in a cubicle. A porter wheels a man into the X-ray department. In the resuscitation room a man lies lifeless on a stretcher bed. He had jumped off a bridge earlier that day.