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The MEC for the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (DID) Jacob Mamabolo has handed over a revamped Jeppe Clinic to his counterpart in the Department of Health MEC Dr Gwen Ramokgopa on Monday 30 October.

DID started refurbishments of the more than 100 year old Clinic in September which included paving, plumbing (which included installation of toilet facility for the disabled), installing new air conditioning and replacement of ceilings among others. The work done is part of a strategy by the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) to prioritise the maintenance of existing infrastructure while rolling out new infrastructure.

GPG has completed conditional assessments of 33 health facilities mainly hospital with a view of rating these facilities so that it can plan a coherent maintenance plan to bring all these facility to a level where they can meet the demands of the people of the province.

“I am extremely happy with the work that has been done here, I’m especially delighted with the time it has taken us to do restore this building to a condition that it is in today. What we have done here is extend the life span of this facility by ensuring that the building is ready to deal with the new challenges of modern society,” Mamabolo said during a press briefing held at Jeppe Clinic.

He says due to its age, the clinic was unable to cope with high volumes of patients as it was originally built to service a few. He adds that due to the change in climatic conditions the building’s drainage system could not cope with heavy rains, as a result DID had to overhaul the entire drainage.

MEC Ramokgopa also attested to this saying that the clinic was a “sick building” as it made staff and patients ill due to mouldy and damp walls.

“This clinic services just under 20000 people and it is one of the valuable services we provide for the inner city. I’m very excited that we have come this far in terms of refurbishing the clinic,” Ramokgopa added.

Ramokgopa says that the clinic will be opened to the public in a period of two weeks after the Department of Health has completed deep cleaning, fitted equipment and stocking medicine supplies. MEC Ramokgopa added that she will further engage MEC Mamabolo on other areas concerning the clinic which were not part of the scope for the refurbishments, such as parking space for the ambulance and staff parking lot.

The facility offers various services such as primary healthcare, women’s productive health, prevention and management of communicable diseases, management of chronic diseases, and provides antiretroviral services amongst others services.

Issued by Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development