Community treated in tents, with R124 million white elephant clinic next door

The dignity of the people Hammanskraal appears to have been the biggest casualty in an apparent case of bickering between the Tshwane Metro Municipality and the Gauteng provincial government.

The community north of Pretoria have had to endure primary health care services in tents and shipment containers, while the R124-million state-of-the-art Mandisa Shiceka clinic stands empty next door.

Without bulk services such as sewage systems, electricity, water supply, and storm water drainage systems pipes, the facility which was said to have been completed in 2017, cannot be utilised.

In March, Gauteng Premier David Makhura, who visited the facility together with MEC of health, Bandile Masuku, and MEC Infrastructure Development Department, Taseem Motara, blamed the Tshwane metro for failure to connect the facility to bulk services.

The Tshwane Metro, on the other hand, has said that the facility could not be connected to bulk municipal services until the provincial government had addressed outstanding building control and city planning issues.

At the time when Makhura visited the facility, the provincial government was in the process of placing the Tshwane metro under administration.

The Mandisa Shiceka Clinic in Hammanskraal which has not opened since its construction in 2018. The clinic remains closed due to it having no electricity or water. On the neighbouring premises a tented clinic has been established to treat Hammanskraal residents, 18 September 2020, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Lindela Mashigo, Tshwane metro spokesperson, would not go into detail about the outstanding issues, only that they were working with the provincial government to address these issues, which  the province needed to “address to get the necessary approvals to enable connection of services”.

Kenneth Moshoe, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) leader, said using a tent to examine patients violated basic human rights of patients such as the right to privacy, dignity, proper health care.

“Child vaccines are kept in a cooler box which can only preserve the medication for a maximum of 6 hours, thereafter, the vaccine can no longer be used. As a result, children cannot be vaccinated after lunch. This medical negligence puts the lives of young infants in great danger and cannot be tolerated,” he said.

Meshoe, who visited the facility last week following pleas from residents and staff, said he suspected that the facility was being used as a political ploy in the bigger fight for the control of the metro between the ANC and the DA.

“This is an election tactic that will be utilised to take advantage of the community, which in essence gambles with the lives of innocent civilians,” he said after visiting the facility.

Gauteng department of Infrastructure Development spokesperson, Bongiwe Gambu, conceded that they had control and city planning issues to address for the Tshwane metro to connect services to the facility.

She said the main concern was the land donation for the additional land that will have to be used for parking and outstanding wayleave approvals for bulk services, saying several meetings have been held to try and resolve these issues.

“The (Tshwane metro” administration was taking their decision to council meeting for approval in August last year. Unfortunately the August council meeting was unable to proceed, including all other council meetings after that. Therefore council could not finalise the decision (and approve the decision to donate the land and approve the wayleave),” she said.

siphom@citizen.co.za

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