Alleged vandal killed at hospital ruins

THE Manenberg community is alarmed at the escalating crime at the old GF Jooste Hospital after discovering the body of a man.

Vandals have descended on the old hospital – scavenging its rooftops, paving bricks and corrugated iron, among other things, since it was closed in 2014.

Last Thursday, the body of a 33-year-old man was found. According to reports, the man and a friend were on the building site on Wednesday night searching for scrap metal to sell when they heard voices and then a gunshot.

Provincial police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the man was shot and killed by an unknown suspect and the circumstances are being investigated.

The hospital was closed two years after the provincial government had promised that, by last year, a bigger and more efficient hospital would be constructed.

In 2015, it was announced a business plan for the rebuilding of GF Jooste was being developed.

It was also announced in a joint city and provincial media briefing that the site has been sold to the City of Cape Town for use by a law enforcement training facility.

This plan, however, has since been scrapped.

In April 2016, the department said a site had been identified for the new hospital, which would cost about R2.9 billion, but would not reveal where.

Manenberg Safety Forum chairperson Roegchanda Pascoe said the community was in the dark on the plans for a new hospital, but have been told developments were in the early stages.

“People are still stripping the hospital even though it is just a shell that is standing there.

“People staying near to Jooste, their places have also been broken into (sic),” Pascoe said.

A neighbour has had to erect a wall where her back gate once was to guard against the hospital vandals.

She said when it had been proposed that the hospital be closed, a community health committee contributed to discussions, but these had not continued.

Siphesihle Dube, spokesperson for Transport and Public Works MEC, Donald Grant, said the department was aware of the incident and police are investigating.

“The department contracted a security company while it is vacant.”

The provincial department of health did not respond to requests for comment by the time of going to press.