DA welcomes closure of clinic in sick building

I welcome the temporary closing of the Jeppe Street clinic in inner city Johannesburg following my exposure of the unhealthy working conditions there.

Staff and patients at this clinic were suffering from moldy walls that smelled and caused health problems.

I visited the clinic last month after receiving complaints that staff were getting chest infections because of the poor state of the old building in which the clinic is based.

The emergency room was worst affected, with ugly mold infesting the walls giving off a pungent smell, and there were leaking ceilings elsewhere.

I hope that the rehabilitation of this clinic is done speedily as it is inconvenient for patients to go instead to the Hillbrow Community Health Centre which is usually quite crowded.

It is disturbing that the Gauteng Health Department only acted on this clinic after bad publicity in the media.

The Department needs to give a higher priority to maintenance so that health facilities never deteriorate to the stage that they need to be closed.

Media Enquiries

Jack Bloom MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC
082 333 4222