Children’s hospital completed

CONSTRUCTION of the much-anticipated Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital has been completed, with its official opening set for December.

Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund chief executive Sibongile Mkhabela said the building in Parktown, Johannesburg, was completed last month.

“Contractors handed over the keys of the building to us in June. We will be opening its doors officially in December. The building is now being equipped inside, including interior art and features.

“It has been a long journey, from the conception of the business plan and lobbying that took 10 years, to the commencement of construction in 2014,” Mkhabela said at the organisation’s Mandela Day activities launch in Johannesburg yesterday.

She said R1 billion was needed to carry out the project, and her organisation had so far raised R850 million. The hospital would pride itself in the notion that no child would be turned away due to guardian’s inability to pay, said Mkhabela

The state-of-the-art hospital was the brainchild of the former statesman who encouraged society’s involvement in the nurturing and safeguarding of children. The Fund was able to mobilise resources on the continent and globally. A Canadian children’s hospital, among others, had partnered with the fund to see through the project, Mkhabela said.

The hospital would employ at least 150 doctors and 451 paediatric nursing professionals. The new hospital would be South Africa’s second children’s hospital after Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. – ANA

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