Opening of River Park Clinic leaves locals jobless

The opening of the River Park Clinic near Alexandra and Lombardy East was met with angry residents and protesting.

Andile November, a small business owner in the area said, “The local residents were the ones who helped with the renovation of the clinic, however, now that it has been opened, the majority of the jobs were given to members outside of the area – some as far away as Soweto. It is not right, as many locals are still unemployed.”

Queen Thoko was working at the clinic but lost her job in February last year when the renovations began. She said, “I was working as a general worker at the clinic and was waiting for the clinic to open so I could get my job back, however, the opening was kept a secret and I am still unemployed.”

The R22.5-million state-of-the-art health facility serves residents of River Park, Lombardy East and Wynberg to ease the pressure on the East Bank Clinic and other primary healthcare facilities in the area.

A resident, who wished to remain anonymous said, “This protest was not politically motivated. It was peaceful and we simply asked security to lock the gates. We are upset about the system of not hiring local residents who are in desperate need of work, and angry for not even announcing the opening of the clinic. It should be about developing the community and it is not!”

River Park Clinic is a free primary healthcare centre and was one of six healthcare centres renovated to address the increasing demand for primary healthcare services in the area.

A meeting was held on 26 January with various workers and managers.

Vusi Mazikbuko, deputy director of Health at the City of Joburg, along with Mrs Kwetse, manager of the River Park Clinic, were among a few of the managers present at the meeting to discuss how they are going to tackle this problem.

November added, “There was no vandalising taking place today as we are proud of this clinic. We just want management to consider this ward before others.”

Nkosinathi Nkabinde, communication specialist for the City of Joburg said “The clinic started to operate in January this year. All the jobs were advertised in The Star newspaper (Workplace section) and the [City of] Joburg website.

“Today, some community members protested at the clinic and demanded that local residents must be employed at the clinic. The ward councillor and the City’s health department officials will continue to talk with community members and try to find an amicable solution on this matter.

“The clinic had to be closed today to protect the staff and patients.”

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