A clinic in Dispatch was attacked yet again last week, the fifth time in 12 months, with patients being robbed of their phones and left traumatised after gunmen barged into the building.
Robberies at the Joe Slovo Clinic are ongoing, according to ward committee member Mbulelo Daliwe, who told News24 that the gang returns every three months.
“The staff are traumatised, but especially the patients… The men kicked down doors and vandalised the place, but luckily, no one was hurt.”
Daliwe said this was the only clinic servicing a vast area, and when it closes after a robbery, the community always suffers.
“People have chronic medication they need to collect, and others need medical assistance…. with the previous robbery, an ill woman couldn’t get help while they were closed, and when the clinic reopened, her children pushed her there in a wheelbarrow but it was too late, she died before they got through the door.”
Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase said the staff would receive trauma counselling.
The department will also be strengthening perimeter fencing and increasing the number of CCTV cameras to beef up security at the facility and other regional facilities, Ndamase said.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Spate of attacks at Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape facilities
PE ambulance crew robbed at gunpoint
Increasing violent attacks put state healthcare workers at risk
Violent attacks prompt special training for Gauteng healthcare staff
Doctors, nurses and paramedics are ‘soft targets’ for criminals