Break-in forces clinic’s shutdown

KHAYELITSHA’S Kuyasa Community Day Centre (CDC) is closed following a break-in in the early hours of Wednesday.

The clinic will remain closed until police have investigated the scene and the building is declared secure, according to the City.

Councillor Zahid Badroodien said eight computers – delivered to the clinic in early December – were stolen, the network and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) cabinet was broken, and the building was damaged.

The incident was a significant setback for health services in the area, said Badroodien yesterday.

The clinic saw on average 400 patients per day, he said, and treated about 500 people for tuberculosis each year. It had about 5000 people relying on it for anti-retroviral treatment.

“Clients come from Kuyasa, but also surrounding areas like Monwabisi Park, Enkanini, eZwelitsha and Harare – a collective population of nearly 150000 people. These are mostly informal and impoverished areas, with a high unemployment rate and a very high burden of disease, where people depend on the public health services provided at Kuyasa CDC.”

The clients not seen during the facility’s closure would add to already long queues once the clinic reopened.

“For as long as the IT equipment is not replaced, the flow of patients will be extremely slow due to difficulty in locating the patient folders and no access to lab results.”

He appealed to citizens with information on the perpetrators to contact the police. |