Residents of Malgas Road in Rosedale came together to voice their concerns regarding the closure of the Rosedale Clinic in Kariega.
The community engagement meeting was organised by ActionSA Kariega Sub-Regional Chairperson Sinclair Baatjies and Nelson Mandela Bay Regional Leader Sherwin Nel.
The ActionSA officials brought Member of Parliament (MP) Dereleen James to hear the residents’ concerns and relay their grievances to National Parliament.
The meeting serves as a follow-up to the clinic’s closure on 17 July, which was attributed to escalating gang-related gun violence in the area.
Residents noted that the closure of the clinic has inconvenienced them greatly. They shared their additional grievances fearfully, as they did not want to be named and targeted for speaking up.
The residents’ main concern is that if the clinic remains closed, it would be detrimental to the community as looters will start stripping the premises of its assets.
This is much like what happened to the Allanridge Community Hall, known as the Civic Centre, which was quickly stripped of every valuable piece of the building, from furniture to wires and even the roof.
The Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesperson, Siyanda Manana, on Friday confirmed that the Department is aware of the closure of the Rosedale Clinic owing to gun violence in the area.
“We are concerned about the violence in the area. We are concerned about our patients.
“The violence does affect the well-being of our patients,” he said.
“The patients were rerouted to surrounding clinics. The clinic staff were also deployed to surrounding clinics. We have engaged SAPS to help in dealing with the crime, we have a budget for security and we have also improved our security personnel,” Manana added.
Democratic Alliance Ward 49 Councillor Georgen Miggels shared in last week’s edition that there will be alternative locations for all patients of the Rosedale Community Health Centre, which is confirmed by the Department of Health.
Manana confirmed that healthcare services will be operating from two locations: the Tambo Multipurpose Centre and V.G.K. Hall located at the corner of Palm Drive and Bloekomboom Street in Gamble, both operating from 08:00 to 14:00 from Monday, 28 July.
“From Wednesday, 23 July until Friday, 25 July, temporary operations took place at the Full Gospel Church situated at the corner of Cedar and Chestnut Streets, with the official starting date at the main centres being Thursday 24 July,” Manana said.
The available services include mental health services, antenatal care, psychology services, X-ray facilities (which will be confirmed), mobile dental services scheduled twice per week, social worker services at Uitenhage Provincial Hospital Floor 1 (referrals and bookings only), and pre-packed medication (CCMDD) services.
Mobile dental services are scheduled twice per week, with the schedule to be made public soon.
“Patients are reminded that tablet packets must accompany them when visiting any facility, and all chronic patients must bring their tablet packets when attending outreach sites,” said Manana.
Doctors will be available at either Park Centre or Tamboville Multipurpose Centre on a rotation basis.
Patients should take note of these arrangements to ensure they receive the healthcare services they require at the appropriate locations and times.
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