Still no repairs to mouldy Joburg provincial clinic  

5 September 2017

Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa says that the Jeppe Street provincial clinic in inner city Johannesburg will re-open on 1 October, but no building work whatsoever has taken place there since it closed in April this year for renovations.

I discovered this when I visited the clinic last week to see how the renovations were going.

The door was locked and a hawker outside told me that nothing had happened to the clinic since it was closed.

The Department of Infrastructure Development is responsible for hiring contractors and Infrastructure Development MEC Jacob Mamabolo says in a recent written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature that the refurbishment of this clinic is on track to be completed by October this year at a cost of R396 000.

But this is obviously not going to happen, which seriously inconveniences more than 2500 patients every month who have been diverted to the Hillbrow Community Health Centre.

The clinic was closed in April following my visit to this clinic which exposed the terrible conditions that led to it being shut down for repairs.

The roof is defective and the dampness has led to a smelly mold on the walls (see photos here, here and here).

This poor condition is despite R2 million spent by previous contractors to fix the clinic a few years ago. 

It shows the incompetence and false promises of the Infrastructure Development Department which is notorious for choosing poor contractors who fail to do the job.

MEC Ramokgopa and MEC Mamabolo are both out of touch with what is really happening at this clinic, making false promises about repairs while patients suffer.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 5 September 2017