Tsakani – The MMC of Health and Social Development, Charlotte Zitha, conducted a surprise visit at the Geluksdal Clinic on Wednesday afternoon.
Her visit comes just a day after the residents took to the streets to protest for better services.
The protests have been going on for two months with residents claiming that the services have deteriorated.
The MMC said she was visiting the clinic to interact with the patients and identify challenges at the clinic.
“We are committed to improving the services in the metro and we are better able to identify the challenges when we are on the ground.
“We are pleading with the residents to refrain from damaging public infrastructure during their protests and to utilise the right channels to lodge their grievances,” she added.
During a meeting with the facility manager, Nocwane Ngaleka raised some of the concerns which include the damaged generator, shortage of staff, and lack of stationery among others.
Nocwane said that when the area experiences load-shedding they are unable to provide services.
“We can’t use the computer, while the fridges that store medication are also affected.
“We are facing a shortage of stationery to the point that we have to make physical copies, especially of the maternity booklet.
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“If the generator was operational we would be able to continue with the services unaffected,” she explained.
Nocwana added that the clinic has five registered nurses who are responsible for 190 to 200 patients a day.
“The shortage of staff and only six consultation rooms affects the efficiency of the clinic because patients have to wait long in the queue to see the nurses.
“We are hoping that the MMC will address our challenges or even escalate them if there is a need to enable us to provide better services to the residents of Geluksdal,” she added.
Concerned resident Jurgesen Banton said the clinic is always full because some of the patients are from the neighbouring area.
“If this clinic was only catering for the health needs of the residents of Geluksdal there wouldn’t be long queues and shortage of medication,” he added.
Another resident Nosipho Mcibe said she is perturbed by the long queues and a shortage of medication.
