The end of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) contract has led to the closure of a clinic at Jim Brown near Hazyview yesterday, May 6.

Workers from EPWP were responsible for cleaning the clinic for years but their contract ended on Thursday, April 30, leaving the clinic without cleaners.

Eventually the clinic closed down on May 6, leading to widespread complaints from people who demanded healthcare services.

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Lowvelder asked the Mpumalanga Department of Health (DoH) about the closure on Wednesday (May 6) and spokesperson Dumisani Malamule confirmed that this resulted from the lack of cleaners.

“There was a challenge regarding the cleaners following the end of an EPWP worker’s contract at the end of April. The EPWP worker was assisting the facility with cleaning since the cleaner retired. Plans have been made to avail cleaners on Thursday (May 7), then the clinic will be operational. The department will speed up the process of appointing permanent cleaners for the facility,” said Malamule.

Contrary to the DoH’s promises, the clinic was still closed when Lowvelder paid it a courtesy visit earlier today, (May 7). People seeking healthcare services were waiting outside the clinic next to the guardroom.

Asked for the reason behind the continued closure of the clinic, Malamule explained that new workers from the EPWP were deployed earlier today but that the members of the community chased them away.
“We are in the process of engaging with the community together with the clinic committee to find a solution,” said Malamule.

Meanwhile, a member of the Jim Brown community, who asked not to be named, said the community was angry that people hired to clean the clinic were not locals.

“There was a woman who retired from cleaning the clinic in 2021. After that people that are not from Jim Brown were brought in to clean the clinic. We demand that the cleaners be appointed from Jim Brown community not from somewhere else because we know about the tendency of appointing relatives that come from somewhere else,” said the community member.