ActionSA has started a petition process seeking the City’s intervention for Braamfischerville residents in Ward 49 Phase Four who are in dire need for a clinic.
ActionSA Joburg caucus leaders, councillors and activists visited the area going door-to-door urging the community to sign a petition to request the City to provide them with a mobile clinic or build a clinic in the area.
This follows continued complaints from residents of Phase Four who said they battle to access health care services due to municipal health facilities that are far from them.
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Cllr Lwande Bini, ActionSA Joburg PR Councillor who also sits in the Petition Committee highlighted the steps that the party will undertake.
He said the party would escalate and seek answers from the MMC of Health and Social Development in the City of Johannesburg. Over 168 signatures were collected from residents during the visit to the area.
“As ActionSA we helped the community to petition the City of Joburg for the mobile clinic.
“We are also going to submit written questions to MMC Annie Makhafula to find out if she has an idea of the struggles of Phase Four residents.
“We also want to make sure that we submit the motion next year for the permanent structure,” said Cllr Bini.
Bini added that they were concerned at the issues raised by the community and slammed government for failing to deliver on its promise to the people.
“ActionSA believes that municipal services must be close to the people where they live. And we must provide all our people with access to quality healthcare. It’s been more than 25 years but people don’t have a health facility that is close to them.”
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Many residents voiced their frustrations saying that their numerous calls for a facility that is closer have fallen on deaf ears.
According to the community, they currently use the Sol Plaatjie Ward 127 clinic located at least seven kilometres away in order to access health care.
They said they often found the clinic full or were forced to turn back to another clinic that serves Ward 44 and 49.
Pensioner, Nombulelo Mtumtum (70) detailed how she was forced to use public transport that cost R36 for a day’s trip in order to fetch medication from the facility.
“We want a clinic that will be near to us especially as senior citizens because the distance we have to travel to access the clinic is concerning.
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Many of us have fragile health and cannot always afford to walk to the clinic so I use the money which was supposed to be for bread to get to the clinic,” Mtumtum said.
“We wake up and go que early in the morning so we can beat the long lines however that has now become a way in which these criminal target us.”
Margaret Shezi, another resident added, “There are a lot of things that we have been deprived of by the government and do not have access to.
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The clinic is one of the few pressing issues in our area. We don’t have a police station, shops and everything is out of reach- and requires transport money. Many residents are unemployed, while the elderly rely on grants.
“We have also become easy subjects for these criminals who continually harass and rob us while trying to get to the clinic in Durban deep.”
