R130 million and 8 years later and still not a single patient treated in NW clinic
5 October 2020
Note to Editors: Find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by DA North West Spokesperson on Health, Gavin Edwards. See pictures attached here, here and here.
During a Legislature Committee oversight visit to the Sekhing Community Health Centre in Taung recently, we found the R130 million facility closed, and two security guards being the only employees in sight.
The tender for the construction of the Centre was advertised in 2012, but, after eight years, the health centre is yet to open its doors. This R130 million project is another clear indication that the ANC run North West Provincial Government is not serious about quality healthcare to residents.
The MEC for the Department of Health, Madoda Sambatha, assured the Provincial Legislature earlier this year that the Centre would open by the end of this year, after failing to open in May 2019, but the fact that not a single construction worker is on site again points to the fact that this centre will not be ready to provide much needed medical services to the residents in the area any time soon.
In March 2019, the MEC publicly announced that the facility was 90 % complete and that it would be handed over to the North West Department of Health at the end of March 2019. In April 2019, the North West Department of Health announced that the clinic would be opened officially on 1 May 2019, but this did not materialise.
The R130 million Health Centre includes an outpatient department, emergency medical rescue services, a pharmacy and staff accommodation. The clinic has however not provided a single patient with any medical care.
The fact that this project has not been completed in 8 years, combined with the repeated failed opening of the clinic and empty promises of the MEC demonstrates the Department of Health's state of disarray.
The community health centre remains a building site without builders. Incomplete exposed electrical wiring, weeds and bushes growing wild, large open construction excavation holes and building material are strewn as far as the eye can see.
As the Executive Authorities, the MEC the Administrator, Jeanette Hunter, must stop paying lip service to this community and intervene to ensure that this vital service is delivered to the community of Taung.
The DA will submit written questions to MEC Sambatha to determine the tender and building processes in order to ascertain how the completion of this clinic has been delayed for eight years.
The MEC must institute an in-depth investigation to find the culprits that held up the project and heads must roll accordingly.
Issued by Gavin Edwards, DA North West Spokesperson on Health, 5 October 2020
