KAAPMUIDEN – Community members have raised serious concerns about the only clinic in this small farming community, which continues to be plagued by rental problems.
On Thursday morning residents contacted Mpumalanga News after they were greeted by locked gates when they wanted to go for a consultation.
The landlord had decided to lock the doors after the rent had not been paid for months.
However, when the newspaper arrived on site at about 09:00, the clinic was open and the staff members were preparing to begin with their duties.
According to the health workers, the department contacted the landlord and payment arrangements were made.
“As you can see, we are only starting with our daily preparations when we should have opened at seven.
It is true, the owner had locked the gates because he is owed rent but after hours of waiting outside with the patients, we received a call from the department informing us that it had spoken with the owner.
That’s when he opened for us,” said one of the clinic’s senior officials.
The official, however, confirmed that no patient had been seriously affected by the situation.
“We were surprised to find the clinic locked. I’m just worried about how the elderly people were affected by this.
I’m just glad that the issue was resolved because this is the only clinic in the whole area,” said one of the patients.
The problems hounding this clinic which serves more than 100 people a day, date back to 2010, when the landlord locked the doors and gates because of non-payment. The clinic is situated on a piece of land on his farm.
Mpumalanga News contacted the health department for comment. Spokesperson
Mr Dumisani Malamule said,
“The clinic at Kaapmuiden is currently operational, while there are ongoing processes that are aimed at addressing the matter regarding outstanding rental and the drafting of a lease agreement between the department and the property owner.”
