Gangs keep clinic closed

A CLINIC in Hanover Park forced to shut its doors last month because of a surge in gang shootings is to remain closed until next year because of continuing violence.

A satellite clinic set up in Newfields, on the outskirts of the area, will instead cater for its patients.

Yesterday the city’s mayoral committee member for health, Siyabulela Mamkeli, said a request had been made for law enforcement officers to patrol the permanent and temporary clinic sites. They would look again at the situation in January.

“Once again I would like to apologise to the affected clients for the inconvenience, but ultimately it’s a case of safety first,” Mamkeli said.

“Our staff members have been very unsettled by the violence in the area and it has impacted on their ability to deliver quality services.

“We need to manage the situation sensitively and sensibly to avoid a recurrence in future, which is why we are giving ourselves some space to plot the way.”

Gang violence has surged in Hanover Park, Lavender Hill and Ottery. The clinic closed during the first week of November this year because a group of gangsters tried to force their way into the clinic to get to a rival gang member being treated there.

Yesterday the city said that it was decided that the clinic would not reopen until possibly the end of January.