Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(S.Afr.) Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto.

1974		K.M.C. Motsisi in Drum (Johannesburg) 22 Dec. 44: He tells me that Kid Bles is admitted to the Repair House (Bara Hospital) after he gets himself knifed at a gumbagumba session way out in Naledi [DSAE].
1978		in Casey ‘Kid’ Motsisi Casey and Co. 132: Next time the quack and nurses call around this ‘Bara’ bed of mine they will find me singing Show me the way to go home with a smile as wide as a two-up of maiza.
1988		Rev. of African Political Economy XV:42 [abstract] An article in The Star described overcrowding with patients sleeping on floors and severe sanitation problems at Bara, which is a teaching hospital associated with the University of Witwatersrand [DSAE].
1990		New African 18 June n.p.: We saw how many babies were coming in, and how many died [...] ‘One can’t say it is symptomatic of the lack of doctors [...] because it is happening at other black hospitals like Bara (Baragwanath),’ said one doctor [DSAE].
2003		City of Johannesburg 🌐 8 Feb. [headline] Bara taxi rank set for major upgrade.