A state-of-the-art clinic has finally opened its doors to the Botleng community after months of delay following its launch held in October 2023. The official opening and operation of the Botleng Extension 6 clinic took place on March 7, 2024. Victor Khanye Local Municipality Executive Mayor Vusi Buda supervised the opening after exerting pressure on the Mpumalanga Department of Health to provide service to the Botleng community and alleviate the pressure faced by other local health facilities. Buda shed some light on the delay in the clinic’s opening. “The Department of Health faced challenges in sourcing staff for the clinic. The staff you see working here is outsourced from other clinics. The clinic’s budget will only be available in April 2024 (the start of the new financial year), and that’s when they will begin advertising permanent job positions,” he explained.
He continued to say that the clinic will primarily serve residents of Ward 3 and people from Extensions 4, 5, 6, and 7. “This clinic is meant for residents of Ward 3, but residents from Extensions 4, 5, 6, and 7 can also use it. From now on, people from Ward 3 will receive good service delivery from the newly opened clinic, which is large and will be beneficial to them,” he emphasized. Oupa Mvula, a Primary Health Care Manager of Emalahleni and Victor Khanye Local Municipality, explained how the clinic operates. “For now, due to staff shortages and low community attendance, we will operate for 8 full hours. Once we have enough staff and increased community attendance, we will transition to a phased approach, increasing operating hours to 12 full hours and eventually to 24 hours, which was the original plan,” he explained.
A community member of Ward 3, Xolani Innocent Sibiya, expressed gratitude for the new clinic. “We are very grateful for the clinic built for us in Ward 3. I hope that people from Ward 3 and the entire community of Victor Khanye Local Municipality will take good care of our newly built clinic. We trust that community members will receive ample help from this clinic, as the other clinics are always full, and it is nearby,” he said. Another community member, Simphiwe Makua, added his gratitude. “I am very grateful for the new clinic. It will be very helpful to community members. I just burned my hand, so now I won’t need to seek medical attention at Bernice Samuel Hospital in town; I can get it here,” he said.
