Masvingo Provincial Hospital Medical Superintendent Discharged of Culpable Homicide Charge

Dr. Noel Ralph Zulu, the Medical Superintendent at Masvingo Provincial Hospital, has been discharged from a culpable homicide charge. The charge was related to an incident where a 30cm x 30cm surgical gauze was left inside a patient’s abdomen during a procedure.

Dr. Zulu was discharged this afternoon by Regional Magistrate Bishard Chineka, following a discharge application made last Wednesday by his attorney, Oliver Marwa. The application came at the end of the State’s case in the trial concerning the death of Gladys Sibanda.

Sibanda, who passed away in 2023 while attending a Zanu PF rally in Zaka, was previously treated at Masvingo Provincial Hospital where the gauze was left inside her after surgery. The State contended that the retained surgical item contributed to her death. However, Dr. Godfrey Zimbwa, who conducted the post-mortem, determined the cause of death to be liver cirrhosis, not complications related to the retained gauze.

Magistrate Chineka ruled that there was insufficient evidence to link Sibanda’s death directly to the surgical gauze left in her abdomen in 2015. Despite the gauze, reports indicated that Sibanda was otherwise physically well and able to perform household tasks.

This case highlights the challenges