On 13 December, Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba marked the official reopening of the newly revamped Thoko Mngoma Clinic, alongside MMC for Health and Social Development, Mpho Phalatse.
Mayor Mashaba said seeing the delivery of this clinic, which is just outside Alexandra, was especially pleasing after the frustrating setbacks the project suffered along the way, because of poor workmanship by the contractor initially employed to carry out the job.
The upgraded clinic will now see the expansion of the emergency, dispensary, and waiting rooms respectively. There are now additional consulting rooms, ablution facilities, and better parking facilities.
The clinic, which is named after a woman considered by many as the mother of the community of Alexandra, reopened its services just over a month ago, and also saw extended operating hours, which now begin from 7am during weekdays, and between 7.30am to 1.30pm on Saturdays. The City made it a priority to extend hours at clinics in an effort to not only ensure that residents have more time to access healthcare services, but that it eases the burden of long waiting times.
MMC Phalatse said the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that a clinic should be within a 5km radius to every patient, and that the City of Joburg was working towards realising this. This is why the delivery of such a quality facility, which will help alleviate the pressure on neighbouring healthcare centres, is such a positive development for the city.
The successful delivery of the Thoko Mngoma and Fourth Avenue clinics, alongside that of the impending completion of Orchards Clinic, was left to the Joburg Development Agency (JDA) to oversee, as per the City’s 2017/18 Adjustment Budget. A further R20.6 million was handed to the Health Department for the upgrading of our clinics.
Mayor Mashaba said, “We continue to work on ensuring that the best interest of Johannesburg’s residents are served, and there are few bigger priorities than increasing access to quality healthcare to our people. I’d like to congratulate all those involved in delivering this wonderful facility”.
