VANDERBIJLPARK – Johan Heyns Community Health Centre has officially opened its doors to the public following a two-week-long closure due to infrastructural headaches.
However, this decision has sparked discontent among members of the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), who expressed concerns about the facility’s conditions.
This comes after the facility closed its doors on January 17 when rotten water pipes bled to electrical cables, leading to the abruption of a distribution board sparking fire.
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On Monday, January 29, the communications department at the institution issued a communique informing residents and staffers of the crisis being resolved.
“The Sedibeng Health District wishes to inform the community of Emfuleni that the electrical fault that affected Johan Heyns Community Health Centre on the 17th of January 2024 has been resolved. The Community Health Centre Emergency unit, Maternity unit, and Primary Health Care services are fully operational,” said spokesperson, Porcia Gibson.
In an interview with Sedibeng Ster, Regional Secretary of Nehawu Simamkele Takane said despite the headache being temporarily resolved, a long-term solution is needed for the ageing and decaying building.
“The Health and Infrastructure Departments have a challenge provincially, most of their buildings are not compliant and Johan Heyns is not an exception. The building is rotting away and needs a long-lasting solution,” he said.
Takane said old decomposing water pipe systems, and electricity are the biggest contributors to the constant closure.
“When you fix one water pipe, another area blasts because these pipes are very old. Electricity cables are constantly failing, they weren’t being maintained,” he said.
Takane said Johan Heyns isn’t the only problematic facility but needs urgent resolutions.
Other problematic facilities comprise of Boitumelo Clinic, Kopanong Hospital, and Heidelburg ‘23’, among many others.
With the huge number of health facilities facing decay and some needing special attention, the union has escalated the matter to district management.
“The Department of Labour was there to assess the building and the report was never released. We have also reported similar challenges including compliance within the institution but the management is moving at a snail’s pace. We have arranged a bilateral meeting with the district with management because the issue is at a multilateral level at the institutional level,” he said.
“We can’t allow workers to work in such conditions. The situation now propels us to work faster than we should in making sure these issues are discussed and resolved,” he added.
