Kempton Park Hospital, a place where tragedy mingles with mystery, leaving many to ponder if its ghosts will ever truly rest
Image: Nicola Mawson
There is no one source of knowledge about the Kempton Park Hospital, which history dates back to 1978 and abandoned almost two decades later, although anecdotally it is reputedly haunted.
Much of the available information speaks to plans to revamp it, a disgraced paediatrician who has become the subject of folklore, its destination for adrenaline junkies and drug-fuelled fans of rave music, and its location as a venue for amateur “specialists” in the paranormal.
Visiting an apparently haunted hospital on a winter’s day – day because we aren’t complete idiots – was something that struck my one best friend and I as a brilliant idea. Looking back, neither Dom nor I can remember who actually first suggested it.
Discover the eerie tales surrounding Kempton Park Hospital, from its troubled past to its haunted reputation, as we explore the chilling stories that linger in its abandoned halls.
Image: Nicola Mawson
Being sensible, I invited my then boyfriend along because he can at least wield a tyre iron. And then Dom and I went anyway after he dropped me – which goes some way towards explaining why he is a former boyfriend.
You would think it would be easy enough to find. It’s not like it isn’t a large landmark in Kempton Park, on Johannesburg’s eastern side. As is typical, however, my GPS took me to the wrong side of the hospital and to several closed gates.
Once having spotted the actual entrance, hidden away behind overgrown bushes, having paid our “entrance fee” to the guards, and managed to park my SUV over a concrete parking bay divider, we were set.
Abandoned doesn’t begin to describe the dereliction and we had to step carefully around broken bits of glass, sneaky bits of wire, flattened beer bottles, and various other pieces of ceramics and goodness only knows what.
In recent years, various attempts have been made to revive the hospital, with plans surfacing as recently as last September
Image: Nicola Mawson
I wandered off, distracted by photo opportunities and carrying with me a semi-pro digital SLR, which then led to shouts echoing across the derelict building of “Dom,” “Nikki,” “Dom”… .
Thankfully, we found each other again and ventured up to the top floor. Dom had told me that it was rumoured that this was a psych ward, so I was expecting restraints and what was left of padded cells. It was, instead, a maternity ward.
Doing my research later – another of my bright ideas was to explore and then do my homework – I found several reports of a chap who was purporting to be a paediatrician, Andre’ Esterhuizen, who apparently had no more than what is now a Grade 10. Media reports indicate that, during his eight years in the maternity and children’s ward, he killed five children.
The state of abandonment was overwhelming, far beyond mere neglect.
Image: Nicola Mawson
Esterhuizen was tried and sentenced to 18 years behind bars.
That’s apparently just one case of medical malpractice. No wonder the hospital has a reputation for being haunted.
Almost two decades after it closed, with the loss of what was then state-of-the-art equipment, there have been several attempts to resuscitate the hospital. The latest was announced last September when the Gauteng Department of Health said it was waiting for feedback from the Gauteng Infrastructure Funding Agency regarding proposals to either demolish or renovate it.
While an additional medical centre would certainly be welcome in the province, based on the state of the Kempton Park Hospital, it seems DOA.
IOL