Premier Mtshweni-Tsipane during the official opening ceremony of clinic
By Kopano Dibakwane
The provincial government in Mpumalanga, in its attempt to address infrastructure backlog, has officially opened a state-of-the-art clinic in Botleng (extension 6), under the Victor Khanye Local Municipality on Friday 20 October.
The opening ceremony was led by Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, alongside the provincial Health MEC, Sasekani Manzini, the Executive Mayor of Victor Khanye Local Municipality-Vusi Buda, the management of Eskom and General Electric Vernova.
According to a statement released by the OTP(office of the premier), the 24 hour clinic will provide comprehensive primary health care service for the local 33 000 population.
The clinic is said to be one of the private/public partnership projects in Mpumalanga. Its construction phase was reportedly funded by General Electric Vernova in partnership with Eskom and it was handed over to the provincial government last month.
In her keynote address, Mtshweni-Tsipane said that more can be achieved when all material stakeholders collaborate to implement the ideals of the District Development Model(DDM).
” The provision of efficient primary health care services and the eradication of infrastructural backlogs within the healthcare sector remains an important strategic deliverable of our healthcare policy and will continue to be prioritised for the duration of this administration.
” We shall ensure that the facility has the appropriate volumes of medication at any given time to meet the needs of our people and preserve the right to healthcare services,” said Mtshweni-Tsipane.
In acknowledging the contribution by Eskom and General Electric Vernova, the Premier said; ” The impact of your R75 million investment in this community will be heralded for generations to come.”
She further more encouraged the community to guard against criminal elements that target such facilities and the staff on duty, also cautioning the residents to be on the lookout for community members who target healthcare facilities to express their displeasure regarding service delivery.
The clinic consists of 12 consulting rooms and will provide services such as; emergency care, management of chronic conditions, pharmacy, dental services, intergrated management of childhood illnesses, mental health care, antenatal and post-natal care.
