Tom London: ‘I was denied help due to my skin colour’
‘This isn’t a white story’: Radio star Tom London has disputed claims his videos about Helen Joseph Hospital went viral because of his race.
Radio personality Tom London insists that his race was not the reason his complaints about Helen Joseph Hospital garnered headlines this week and caught the attention of Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
The former 702 and Cape Talk presenter had social media in a frenzy after posting videos about his experience at the Johannesburg public medical centre.
With the financial aid of the public, he has since managed to seek treatment at a private healthcare facility.
Tom is one of many high-profile people and ordinary South Africans who do not have medical aid.
TOM LONDON: ‘THIS ISN’T A WHITE STORY’
In a Facebook Live on Thursday, 12 September, Tom London sought to set the record straight on why his story about public hospitals – and not others – have made headlines.
He said: “Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that the biggest complaints at Helen Joseph are patient care and staff attitude. I happened to touch a nerve. [This time, the media got that right]. They realised I was onto something.
“I’m just one guy; I left radio in 2007. Some people say it’s because of my skin colour that I got attention. I don’t think so. I think it was my anger and how loud I shouted.
He continued: “If you’re having a problem in healthcare, then do what I did. I can’t be the voice for every single problem in the healthcare system. South Africans, start speaking up.”
Tom London went on to encourage South Africans to dig deep and use their “spirit of resilience.”
“We have a history of defying justice, of standing up and protesting. That’s how we’re going to fix this.
“I’m talking to [all races]. This isn’t a white story.”
Posted by Tom London on Thursday 12 September 2024
In an interview with the SABC, Aaron Motsoaledi said he was disturbed by what he had seen in om London’s viral videos.
He said: “It broke our hearts. It was quite disappointing. But under no [circumstances] are we going to condemn the whole public healthcare system because of what happened at Helen Joseph Hospital.
“There are millions of South Africans who have gone through our hospitals, been treated, and sent home. [But] we are not going to sit here and argue that we don’t have problems. We do have them.”
HALFWAY TO CROWDFUNDING GOAL
Meanwhile, Tom London revealed that he was halfway to his goal of achieving his R250 000 BackaBuddy crowdfunding objective.
After discharging himself from the Helen Joseph Hospital, Tom appealed to his Facebook friends to help him raise money to seek treatment at Sandton’s Morningside Clinic.
He has since been given a diagnosis by his pulmonologist that he requires major thoracic surgery to drain the fluid in his lungs. The operation was initially priced at R600 000. However, the hospital managed to “cut costs” and discount his operation to R250 000.
At the time of publishing, Tom had managed to raise over R140 000 via BackABuddy.