KaNyamazane residents protest against poor services at local clinic
Members of the EFF and the community handed over a memorandum of demands to the KaNyamazane Clinic, insisting on better service delivery.
The peaceful march took place on July 30.
Sifiso Sindane, the coordinator of the march, said his party decided to facilitate it after having received numerous complaints about poor service rendered at the clinic.
He said the party and locals decided to peacefully engage the management of the clinic in the hopes that proper ways would be implemented soon to address some of the grievances raised in their memorandum.
READ: All systems go for primary schools, but parents remain concerned
“We are not here to disturb the order of the day; we are not even going to make noise. We are here to hand over a memorandum that includes allegations of bad attitude by the nurses and security guards of this facility. We also learned that patients wait long hours in the queues before being attended to; this include elders who are already fragile due to their age. We want them to be given first preference,” Sindane said.
He added that the party had received complaints of patients’ medical files being misplaced and getting lost from the clinic’s archives. Sindane added that the clinic management needed to prioritise extending the business hours to 24 hours a day, and not the normal eight to five working hours. Mpho Fakude, a concerned resident, said her father had died in January, allegedly due to the poor attitude of the security guards he and her aunt had encountered that day.
READ: A doctor’s advice on what to do before and after taking your vaccine
“My aunt brought my father to the clinic as he was critically ill. Upon their arrival, they asked for directions from the security guard, who apparently showed them the wrong entrance to the clinic door, and that is when my father lost the little energy he had and died in the toilets,” said Fakude.
Upon receiving the memorandum, Phumza Thusi, the matron, gave her appreciation to the community for bringing their grievances forward to management, and said this would help them to improve on their shortfalls.
“It is a good thing that you came here to raise your frustrations when you were not satisfied. I am going to forward this to the relevant people in authority to see what to do as a way forward. I believe that we will come back with positive feedback,” she said.
The marchers gave the clinic 14 days to respond to their demands. They threatened that they would up their demonstration to the next level if nothing changed.
