Mashaba: Clinics will open 24/7

The Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba has promised to keep clinics in the City of Johannesburg open 24 hours a day. Mashaba made this statement in the Princess informal settlement recently, while addressing the poor conditions of the area. He was joined by DA MP Anchen Dreyer, councillors Carl Mann and Gert Niemand, and Ward 71 candidate Renè Benjamin.

“I am heartbroken by the conditions our fellow South Africans live in. This is the same Johannesburg that Parks Tau calls a world class city. It is unacceptable for people to live like this – it’s a human rights violation. It is their human right to have their basic needs, such as access to electricity, water, sanitation and health, met. I am stepping forward. Something needs to be done about it,” said Mashaba.

The terrible health conditions in Princess have pushed Mashaba and the DA to take the issue up with the Human Rights Commission.

Mashaba promised the residents that as soon as he’s in power, he will ensure that clinics are fully staffed to handle any number of people from Monday to Sunday, at all times of the day and night.

The clinic accessible to Princess residents does not only help those from the informal settlement – it also serves residents from Princess, Lindhaven, Witpoortjie and Grobler Park.

“The staff at the clinic are fantastic and do their work well, but it is not enough. There are too few nurses and they only have three rooms to work from. They can only help a certain number of people at a time. Last year, the clinic attended to 1 000 people a month. This figure has more than doubled, to 2 300 people a month. After hours, the residents have to go to the Helen Joseph or Leratong Hospitals. The people here cannot afford to travel that far,” Mashaba said.

The DA will conduct research into the deteriorating conditions in the informal settlement and approach the Human Rights Commission with their findings.

“The health of our citizens is critical to a thriving economy. Without a healthy community, our economy will not grow. I vow to the residents of Roodepoort and Johannesburg that in my first year in charge, I will increase the expenditure allocated to the clinics in our communities,” he said.

Mashaba also visited the Maziko family whose 14-year-old daughter contracted TB, and now suffers from epileptic fits. “They had just moved here when this happened, which means the environment affected her. Now she can’t go to school or anything. Her problem is just a drop in the ocean as hundreds of people in this community are going through the same issues,” said Mashaba.

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