ActionSA has written to Mpumalanga MEC for Health Sasekani Manzini, demanding urgent intervention following an oversight visit I conducted at Sister Mashiteng Clinic in Mhluzi Ward 18.
Sister Mashiteng is the largest clinic in Mhluzi and provides maternity, chronic care, and mother-and-child health services to a large and growing community. The facility was built and equipped to operate 24 hours a day but only did so for the first six months after opening. It now closes at 19:00.
During our oversight visit, we found a facility facing serious staffing and service delivery challenges. The clinic has operated without a doctor for several years following the resignation of the previous doctor. Vacant posts for professional nurses, doctors and support staff remain unfilled, leaving the remaining nurses overwhelmed by the workload.
Patients are forced to wait for hours, with some still in the queue when the clinic closes at 19:00. This means pregnant women, mothers with young children and people living with chronic conditions can be left without the assistance they require and forced to return the following day.
ActionSA is also deeply concerned that expired medication was found at the facility. This raises serious questions about medicine control and stock management. Clinic management has reportedly raised these challenges repeatedly, yet the problems remain unresolved.
This clinic was upgraded with a maternity ward so that mothers in Mhluzi could access essential services closer to home. It is unacceptable that residents are now being failed by a lack of doctors, staff shortages, excessive waiting times and inadequate management.
In our letter to MEC Manzini, we have demanded:
- The immediate appointment of a full-time doctor and additional professional nurses;
- The filling of all vacant professional nursing and support staff posts;
- The immediate removal of expired medication and improved medicine control and stock management;
- A clear plan to reduce waiting times and ensure patients are not turned away without receiving the necessary assistance; and
- A written response outlining the steps and timelines for addressing these failures.
We have given the MEC 14 days from receipt of the letter to respond.
If these issues are not urgently addressed, we will escalate the matter to the South African Human Rights Commission and pursue all other available accountability mechanisms.
The people of Mhluzi Ward 18 and surrounding communities deserve a clinic that is properly staffed, functional and capable of providing timely and dignified healthcare. ActionSA will continue to conduct oversight and hold the Department of Health accountable.
ActionSA Writes to MEC Manzini Demanding Urgent Action as Sister Mashiteng Clinic Fails Mhluzi Residents
ActionSA has written to Mpumalanga MEC for Health Sasekani Manzini, demanding urgent intervention following an oversight visit I conducted at Sister Mashiteng Clinic in Mhluzi Ward 18.
Sister Mashiteng is the largest clinic in Mhluzi and provides maternity, chronic care, and mother-and-child health services to a large and growing community. The facility was built and equipped to operate 24 hours a day but only did so for the first six months after opening. It now closes at 19:00.
During our oversight visit, we found a facility facing serious staffing and service delivery challenges. The clinic has operated without a doctor for several years following the resignation of the previous doctor. Vacant posts for professional nurses, doctors and support staff remain unfilled, leaving the remaining nurses overwhelmed by the workload.
Patients are forced to wait for hours, with some still in the queue when the clinic closes at 19:00. This means pregnant women, mothers with young children and people living with chronic conditions can be left without the assistance they require and forced to return the following day.
ActionSA is also deeply concerned that expired medication was found at the facility. This raises serious questions about medicine control and stock management. Clinic management has reportedly raised these challenges repeatedly, yet the problems remain unresolved.
This clinic was upgraded with a maternity ward so that mothers in Mhluzi could access essential services closer to home. It is unacceptable that residents are now being failed by a lack of doctors, staff shortages, excessive waiting times and inadequate management.
In our letter to MEC Manzini, we have demanded:
We have given the MEC 14 days from receipt of the letter to respond.
If these issues are not urgently addressed, we will escalate the matter to the South African Human Rights Commission and pursue all other available accountability mechanisms.
The people of Mhluzi Ward 18 and surrounding communities deserve a clinic that is properly staffed, functional and capable of providing timely and dignified healthcare. ActionSA will continue to conduct oversight and hold the Department of Health accountable.