GroundUp reports that at the dilapidated, prefab Intabazwe clinic, near Harrismith, some patients are turned away daily even if they started to queue as early as 6am.
The main clinic – Lesedi – has been shut ever since it was damaged in protests in 2015 and then left to vandals to be stripped. Intabazwe now serves over many thousands of households. A staff member reported that at least ten people were turned away daily and explained why: “We are short staffed … We have two nurses, three staff nurses and two clerks to deal with a volume of over 200 people [daily].” The Intabazwe prefab clinic stands on private land leased by the department from landowner Phakane Matabola. The original clinic building is used for files and storage. According to community members, Matabola locks the gates when he has not been paid by the department. The department said the rental agreement was confidential, but confirmed that there had been a “service interruption” in December 2024.
The community has pleaded with the provincial health department since 2015 to build another clinic. Mondli Mvambi, provincial health spokesperson, said rebuilding the clinic had been delayed by budgetary constraints. “The department acknowledges that staff shortages are not unique to this facility or to the Free Stat but are part of a national challenge,” he indicated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tladi Moloi at GroundUp
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