Mayor Matongo opens renovated projects in Alex
ALEXANDRA – The SafeHub facility is a result of a partnership between the City, Amandla EduFootball, and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
The City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Jolidee Matongo officially opened two recently renovated state-of-the-art projects in Alexandra on September 14.
The two projects are the 4th Avenue Clinic and the Alex SafeHub in Alexandra, the latter being a multi-sporting code facility located just metres away from the clinic and next to the Alexandra High School on what used to be known as the Number 1 Square Ground.
The opening of the extended and renovated clinic, valued at R35 million, comes as a direct response to the Alexandra residents’ expressed concerns about the old health facility having been small with only six consulting rooms battling to service the demands of the over-populated neighbourhood of shacks, hostel and mortar-and-brick houses.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Matongo said the newly renovated clinic now boosted 18 large consultation rooms with designated sections for mother and child, chronic and acute, as well as emergency and administration wings.
“The clinic was built in accordance with the national core standards for new health facilities, and the City ensured that it was compliant with the national Department of Health’s ideal clinic standards.”
The clinic reopened its doors for operation in April last year to be able to provide primary healthcare services amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and increased public service demands. “This was a decision taken to ensure that the residents of Alexandra accessed the much-needed primary healthcare services,” Matongo added.
“The opening of the 4th Avenue Clinic is a demonstration of the fact that many years of underinvestment in poor communities are being reversed and more clinics and hospitals are either being fully renovated or new ones are being built,” he added.
The SafeHub facility is a result of a partnership between the City and the non-governmental organisation, Amandla EduFootball, and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. It is designed to function as a multi-purpose centre underpinned by sport, together with educational, health and enterprise development programmes.
The SafeHub also has a 40-seater youth centre that includes office space, workshop rooms and a youth café and it provides a viable and attractive alternative to Alexandra and surrounding areas, especially for the youth to take up positive developmental activities.
