Pretoria - Residents of Nellmapius have been left stranded after their local clinic was closed following a fire that broke out at the facility recently, damaging patients’ files kept at the reception.
The City of Tshwane said the fire broke out at the clinic following an incident of cable theft outside the facility during load shedding.
As a result of the incident, community members have been asked to consult at the neighbouring clinics in Silverton, Phahameng and Mamelodi West.
MMC for Health Rina Marx said staff and patients would be redirected to the nearest clinics, adding that at this stage, it was unclear as to when the clinic would be reopened “as we are still awaiting the findings of the assessment”.
She said residents would be kept informed with regular updates.
According to Marx, the fire broke out at the reception area of the city’s clinic during the early hours of the morning, resulting in a number of patient files stored at the reception catching fire.
Marx said: “Our emergency services department responded speedily and are still on-site assessing the extent of the damage.”
It was suspected that cable theft occurred outside the clinic during load shedding, which caused an electrical spark once the power was restored.
“This, in turn, is believed to have caused the fire. In my capacity as MMC for health, I have already visited the site,” Marx said.
She said the clinic would be closed to allow the city’s response teams to complete their investigations and assessment.
“Our multiparty coalition government will ensure that the necessary repairs are undertaken so that the clinic can be reopened to provide the primary healthcare services to surrounding communities. I thank community members for their understanding and urge them to make use of the services at neighbouring clinics.”
Pretoria News