Patients and staff at the Khutsong West Clinic are very worried that this clinic might soon collapse into a sinkhole.

“We are scared daily, and the conditions are getting worse with all the rain,” says the chairman of the Khutsong West Clinic Committee, Joe Lepedi.

According to Lepedi and other residents who frequent the clinic, the paving started sagging in two places at the back of the clinic toward the end of last year. Water dams up at these spots, which makes the situation worse as more of it seeps into the ground, weakening it even further.

The side of a room where patients with chronic illnesses used to be treated is also sinking, and there are several deep cracks in the floor.

What worries the patients and staff is that this clinic has a history of sinkhole problems. It is also situated in an area with many sinkhole problems.

The clinic was only reopened to the public in 2012 after it had been closed for more than a year, after a sinkhole caved in at the side of the terrain. Meanwhile, in 2023, a resident of the area, Oukali Magodielo, fell into another sinkhole next to the clinic’s grounds after the ground collapsed underneath him and his daughter. He had to be rescued by emergency workers. Although he did not break any bones, Magodielo was severely traumatised.

The clinic is also diagonally across the street from a huge sinkhole that caved in and swallowed a house in January this year. Several other houses were also evacuated.

According to people involved at the clinic, various delegations of government and municipal officials had visited the clinic since they reported the problems late last year.

“The last group came on January 4. No one has given us any further information since then,” says a worried staff member. The Khutsong West Clinic serves a community of about 14 500 residents.

The Herald asked the Gauteng Department of Health and the Merafong City Local Municipality about the problems, but received no feedback by printing time.