Police college tipped for Jooste site
THE CITY of Cape Town has given the strongest indication yet that the abandoned GF Jooste hospital is set to be converted into a Safety and Security policing training college.
Safety and Security mayco member JP Smith has confirmed to the Cape Argus that the Western Cape government last week made the informal decision to transfer the abandoned medical facility to the city for that purpose once “business case” discussions were finalised.
Smith said the Department of Public Works, the Department of Health and the city were holding meetings behind closed doors to discuss the financial implications before the GF Jooste building would officially be handed over.
Smith said: “I don’t think that it was their (the Department of Health’s) intention to build another hospital in the same area.
“The hospital was closed and we (the city) made a bid to occupy it because we were looking for a training college college since 2004. It is not a matter of us taking away a hospital. If we (the city) did not take it, it would have never been rebuilt as a hospital.”
The hospital was decommissioned on July 4 last year.
The City of Cape Town and the Department of Health had entered “strong discussions” over the future of the building after it was decommissioned.
It has since been repeatedly ransacked by vandals looking to strip the building for scrap.
As an incentive to protect the site, “asset”, the city offered Manenberg residents a reward of up to R1 000 for any information that may lead to an arrest.
Metro police and law enforcement patrols had also been stepped up. “We are starting to protect the asset to make it 100percent secure. There are now 20 guards and six police dogs on that site,” Smith said.
Al- Ameen Kafaar from the department of Public Works referred the Cape Argus to the
Department of Health, who said it could only disclose that provincial and city departments were “exploring various options for the re-allocation of the GF Jooste site”.
Department of Health spokeswoman Marika Champion said there were plans in the pipeline to build a regional hospital in Manenberg as promised by then-Health MEC Theuns Botha.
Champion explained that the 1.6 million patients who had been serviced at the GF Jooste Hospital were being treated for emergencies at the Hanover Park Clinic, Gugulethu Clinic and Heideveld Clinic.
The renovated GF Jooste building was initially due to open in 2016 at a cost of R785 million. However, Champion said she could neither confirm nor deny if reconstruction would commence during negotiations over its future.
She said that if the department of Health reconstructs a state facility at another location in Manenberg, it could take up to five years to complete.
Cape metropolitan health forum’s Damaris Ornellia Kiewiets said the department of Health had not entered into discussions with the affected community.
“During a district meeting in July, the GF Jooste revamping item was removed from the agenda.
“They (the department of Health) and the Portfolio Committee on Health had been promising that they would build a state-ofthe-art facility.
“This is a true reflection of how the state violates its own constitution – they openly lie without a second thought,” she said.
Fuad Floris of the Manenberg Community Policing Forum said if given the choice between a health facility and a policing training academy, “I would rather have a stronger police presence.”
He said the area where GF Jooste is situated – “Sector 1” – is the most volatile area and an increased police presence would help curb crime.
“If a better health facility is going to be built, even if it takes five years – it is something better.
“That is not to say the people of Manenberg will not be affected by the absence of the facility. It is causing a major problem because people have to travel to Heideveld for medical care,” he said.