South Africa: Durban Protesters Block Roads, Demanding Local Clinic Be Re-Opened

The Newtown A clinic has been closed since the floods in April 2022

Several roads in Newtown in Durban were blocked with burning tyres and rubble on Monday morning by protesters demanding that the clinic in Newtown A be reopened immediately.

Newtown A is about 23 kilometres from Durban's city centre. The local clinic, which used to be open seven days a week, was closed after the devastating floods in April 2022. More than two years later, it is still closed and residents are demanding answers from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health.

The nearest clinics are in Nozaza Clinic in Ntuzuma, some four kilometres away and in the Newtown C section, about six kilometres away.

Community leader Londiwe Mnguni told GroundUp that the structure of the clinic looks undamaged so it's not clear to residents why it is still closed.

"We decided to block roads because it seems as if our ward councillors don't want to listen to us. We have so many elderly people who can't walk or take a taxi to the clinic," said Mnguni.

Resident Ntombenhle Mkhize, used to work at the clinic as a cleaner. "Life was better while I was working at the Newtown A clinic because I worked close to home." She said permanent staff had been placed at other clinics when the Newtown A clinic closed, but those working under contract like her had been forgotten.

Ward 55 councillor Siyabonga Mfeka said at a meeting on 3 August residents had agreed that within two weeks officials from the health department would address them.

"It is surprising that before the time frame that we agreed on, the residents decided to protest blocking most of the roads. I understand that the residents have been without a clinic for a very long time. I don't blame them for showing their dissatisfaction, but they should have waited for the process," said Mfeka.

Spokesperson for the KZN Department of Health Ntokozo Maphisa said the clinic had been badly damaged by the 2022 storms. Maphisa said the company appointed to rebuild it had abruptly withdrawn just before starting work. A new contractor would be announced "as soon as possible".

"We appeal to the community to exercise patience and restraint as the process unfolds to build a new improved clinic," Maphisa said.

This article originally appeared on GroundUp