Valdezia Clinic near Elim in Limpopo’s Vhembe district remains closed after angry residents barricaded roads and blocked access to the facility on Tuesday. The community is demanding new buildings and more staff at the clinic.

Shumani Maboko, a local resident leading the protest, is accusing the provincial health department of not taking the community seriously. 

“Community members have been crying for years for a new well-equipped clinic and adequate staff. We also need a tarred road so that the clinic is easy to access. Sometime around 2017 some officials came here to do soil tests for the construction but nothing has happened to date.

“Toilets are not functioning, pipes are broken, there’s no water, furniture is old and broken and everything is rapidly decaying,” says Maboko.

Tsakani Mawele (44), a patient on chronic medication says it is common to come to Valdezia Clinic, and return home without being attended to.

“Not that the nurses are lazy, they are good, but the problem is that they are overworked and get tired to the point of becoming unfriendly to patients at times because of pressure and frustrations,” says Mawele.

Call for calm 

The Limpopo health department has condemned the protest saying the action seeks to block access to vital healthcare services. 

 “In response to the disruptions, staff from Valdezia Clinic will be temporarily reassigned to nearby facilities to ensure continued service delivery,” says spokesperson Neil Shikwambana in a statement.

“We urge all community members to work with the department constructively to resolve this issue and allow healthcare services to reach those in need without further hindrance.” 

The department acknowledges that the current clinic is housed in an old building, and officials have engaged with “legitimate community representatives” on several occasions to address the challenges.

“These meetings have been productive. The communities have been informed about the limitations the department faces particularly in terms of resources which make the construction of the new clinic unfeasible at this time.

“The department allocates an annual budget for basic maintenance of all its healthcare facilities, ensuring that existing infrastructure is properly maintained.”

Ongoing issue

Wanga Nenungwi, labour organiser for the Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (HOSPERSA) in Vhembe district says his union has been complaining about shortages of staff and dilapidated infrastructure at Valdezia Clinic for years.

“A shortage of nurses causes poor service delivery to patients and exhaustion to employees. Only two nurses, one professional and one assistant attend to patients in both shifts.

“They don’t have a cleaner and a clerk meaning the very same nurses must open files for patients or search for existing patients’ documents, mop up floors, issue medication and compile data on their own,” Nenungwi says.

The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (NUPSAW), Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (DENOSA) and National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) say most of the government health facilities in the province face shortages and dilapidated infrastructure, but the department is turning a blind eye. – Health-e News