Tshwane health turns to police for protection after vaccination team armed robbery
A week ago, a vaccination team was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight next to a primary school in Soshanguve.
Tshwane health has pinned hope on police patrols for protection with pop-up vaccinations in local communities after a recent armed robbery of staff.
A week ago, a vaccination team was robbed at gunpoint by a group of five men at a pop-up site next to Rivoningo Primary school in Soshanguve at around 13:30.
Tshwane primary health care manager Dr Mpho Moshime-Shabangu described the incident as “traumatic” for the staff members.
The latest incident was not the first robbery in the region of a vaccination team.
In December last year, a mobile vaccination team was robbed at gunpoint at the Wonder City taxi rank in Soshanguve.
Moshime-Shabangu said she hoped the robberies would “not get to a point where it leads to teams not being able to reach communities”.
“We are concerned about this because we want our staff to be protected at all times,” she said.
She appealed to Soshanguve residents to report any information they have on the robberies to the police.
“We are taking these services to local communities because we want people to take taxis to reach vaccination sites. We really want the communities to assist us to protect our staff because these people (the robbers) are definitely known to the community.”
Moshime-Shabangu said following the robbery, they requested assistance from the police.
“Right now we are working with the police and the metro police (TMPD). Whenever we go out to communities we inform the security cluster so that they can patrol around the sites. They cannot accompany us due to the issue of resources, but the police will constantly patrol around the area of vaccination for visibility and safety.”
She said the robberies negatively affected the vaccine rollout.
“If our staff are robbed, robbers take the gadgets we use for administration and the programme cannot continue. We have to reschedule, do counselling for staff as they are traumatised.”
Moshime-Shabangu said despite the robbery, the staff working in the region were still enthusiastic.
“We will not allow a few bad apples to delay our goal of taking the vaccination to communities.”
Vaccination in the area was expected to continue.
ALSO READ: WARNING: Secure your home and car to prevent crime
In a separate incident, the Gazankulu clinic in Saulsville near Atteridgeville experienced a burglary on January 21.
Addressing a council meeting on Thursday, Tshwane mayor Randall Williams said 25 desktop computers and other equipment were stolen in the burglary.
Williams said the metro would not “tolerate criminal attacks” on the health department.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
