Gong Gong clinic closed for over a month
SANDI KWON HOO SANDI.KWONHOO@ACM.CO.ZA
THE GONG Gong clinic has been closed for over a month, with patients unable to access health services or obtain their medication.
Community members have complained that they have to spend extra money they do not have to catch a taxi to travel to the clinic in Barkly West.
Patriotic Alliance (PA) councillor Corrie Mostert said that there was only one nurse providing services at the Gong Gong clinic.
“The Gong Gong clinic has been shut since December 14, 2023. If the nurse is sick or on leave then the clinic is closed,” said Mostert.
PA provincial premier candidate Sharifa Obaray-ferris added that they had supplied two mobile toilets to the clinic, which they were also maintaining, in September last year, as patients were making use of a pensioner's ablution facility at her home that is close to the clinic.
“It is not hygienic or safe for her as she is in her 70s. There are long queues as the clinic only operates twice a week. The clinic has no electricity and the water cannot be pumped out of the borehole.”
Obaray-ferris said that medication that needed to be kept in cold storage could not be kept at the facility as there was no electricity.
“The Jo Jo tank is supposed to supply the whole of Gong Gong with water but it is very dirty and residents are fetching water from the river,” she added.
The Department of Water and Sanitation warned residents not to consume raw water from the Vaal River near Barkly West last month, due to the presence of blue-green algae.
Obaray-ferris said the community handed over a petition last year calling for the clinic to be fully operational, but there have been no improvements.
Northern Cape Department of Health spokesperson Lulu Mxekezo said yesterday that they were in the process of recruiting a new nurse at the clinic.
“One nurse retired towards the end of 2023 hence the challenge of servicing the clinics in the area. The satellite clinic at Gong Gong is attached to the Longlands clinic, which has three nurses who alternate services between the two clinics,” said Mxekezo.
She added that the Gong Gong clinic operated on Wednesdays and Fridays, while the neighbouring clinics were serviced on the other three days of the week.
“The service provider is currently on site to repair the electricity and water. The electrical distribution box is being replaced and two solar spotlights are being installed. Repair work is also being done to the medicine room,” Mxekezo stated.