GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape — The push for a permanent Kleinskool clinic has reached a boiling point as residents of the historic Gqeberha settlement express deep frustration over a severe lack of accessible primary healthcare. For years, the community in the Eastern Cape’s Northern Areas has been forced to rely on neighboring districts for essential medical services, highlighting a growing and desperate healthcare shortage in one of the region’s oldest settlements.
Despite being a long-established community, Kleinskool lacks a conventional, brick-and-mortar medical facility. Instead, residents must depend on a weekly mobile clinic that community members argue is vastly insufficient for their primary healthcare needs.
Inadequate Mobile Services and Unsanitary Conditions
According to locals, the current mobile unit primarily caters only to infant immunizations and family planning services, leaving those with other medical needs entirely unassisted. Furthermore, the operational hours of the mobile unit have drawn heavy criticism. While a standard clinic would typically open its doors at 7:00 a.m., residents report that the mobile service frequently does not arrive until 9:00 a.m.
The environment where the mobile clinic operates has also raised severe health and safety concerns. The designated stopping point is situated in an unsanitary area that locals describe as resembling a dumping site, forcing patients to seek basic care in dirty and undignified conditions.
The Four-Kilometer Commute for Basic Care
Because the mobile clinic cannot treat general ailments or chronic conditions, the majority of Kleinskool residents are forced to travel to a clinic in the neighboring Chetty area, located approximately four kilometers away.
For a deeply disadvantaged community grappling with high unemployment rates—particularly among the youth—the financial and physical burden of this commute is immense. Reaching the Chetty clinic often requires paying for two separate taxi rides, a luxury many simply cannot afford.
Broken Promises and Daily Struggles
Judith Jordan, a community spokesperson and resident of Kleinskool for 42 years, highlighted the systemic neglect the area has faced. Jordan noted that local authorities promised the community a permanent clinic years ago, a commitment that has yet to be fulfilled.
“We have a problem here in Kleinskool with healthcare. There are chronic patients here, and the majority of people don’t have the money to use transport to go to the Chetty clinic,” Jordan explained. “It is far, and it is dangerous in this area. We are suffering without a clinic.”
Jordan detailed the harrowing lengths residents must go to just to secure medical attention. When community members fall ill and lack transport, they are forced to borrow money from neighbors or purchase whatever limited medications they can afford out-of-pocket at local pharmacies.
The situation becomes even more dire during the winter months. To avoid the long queues at the Chetty clinic—which opens at 7:00 a.m. but serves multiple surrounding neighborhoods—Kleinskool residents must wake up as early as 4:00 a.m. or 5:00 a.m. to begin the four-kilometer walk in the dark and freezing cold.
The Plight of Chronic Patients
The lack of local infrastructure disproportionately impacts the elderly and chronically ill. One local resident, an elderly chronic patient who relies solely on a government pension grant, serves as the main breadwinner for his family. His limited income must stretch to cover household essentials, leaving him frequently stranded when his scheduled dates arrive to fetch his chronic medication. Without the funds to afford the requisite taxi fare to Chetty, his access to life-sustaining treatment is constantly compromised.
As the weekly mobile clinic continues to arrive late and offer limited services in a degraded environment, the cries from Kleinskool residents grow louder. The community remains steadfast in their demand for comprehensive, accessible, and dignified primary healthcare services within their own neighborhood.