KARIEGA – After the Rosedale Clinic in Acacia Road, Kariega, was closed for just over 100 days, residents of Rosedale can now receive health care at their original clinic.
In the interim, the clinic was operating from nearby temporary locations: the Tambo Multipurpose Centre and V.G.K. Hall, serving as a community centre and church respectively.
The original clinic was closed owing to the escalating gun violence in the area. Ward 49 Councillor Georgen Miggels, who spearheaded the relocation and reopening of the clinic, said that the demands of the staff members had been met.
UD Express previously published that the staff had demanded a safer working environment.
The Department of Health spokesperson, Siyanda Manana, shared that “The staff wanted to be guaranteed safety. That is the only guarantee they need; a SAPS mobile or satellite stationed outside the clinic.”
Miggels confirmed that this demand was met by the department.
Miggels added that although the staff demanded armed security, the facility is gun-free; however, a SAPS patrol vehicle will be stationed at the clinic for the patients’ and staff’s safety.
SAPS spokesperson Captain André Beetge, confirmed that a SAPS Kamesh police vehicle will be in the area of Rosedale in light of continued crime incidents in the area.
“It is not to be stationary at the clinic or near the clinic specifically, but it will be patrolling all the hotspots in Rosedale which include the clinic,” he said.
“The patrol vehicle will also be stationary at four-way stops at the discretion of the visible policing commander when informed about crimes that are occurring in the area.”
Beetge concluded, “SAPS continues to urge the clinic to have their own security deployed on their premises.”
