A recent oversight by DA Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs) Lindy Wilson, Katlego Suzan Phala and Risham Maharaj to a local clinic, primary school and roads within Polokwane Municipality confirmed the concerns of, ward 40 residents that they are being forgotten when it comes to services.
The Mashashane clinic that caters to approximately 150 patients daily is meant to be a 24-hour clinic and operate from Monday to Sunday, it now only operates from Monday to Friday from 7 am till 4 pm due to nurse shortages. View photos here and here
There is no ambulance at the clinic and they are dependent on the use of an ambulance from Polokwane when it is available and usually takes hours to arrive. The clinic only gets a visit from a doctor twice a month and has a severe shortage of medication for diabetes and equipment like a defibrillator, BP machines and autoclave machine.
The inspection of Tutwana Primary school revealed the neglect by the Limpopo Department of Education. The school had its pit toilets demolished but new toilets have never been built. The school has had to use 4 mobile toilets for 332 learners and 9 teachers since 2019 and they are only cleaned once a week. The school suffers severe water shortages and is forced to buy water at exorbitant prices. View photos here and here.
Tutwana Primary School infrastructure is dilapidated and needs urgent maintenance. The school has teaching staff shortages, as well as a furniture and classroom shortages, with one grade 5 class accommodating 53 learners. The school is not well fenced and has been broken into on numerous occasions.
The D5006 and D3389 Percy Five Road to Mashashane needs patching in some areas to deal with large potholes. The road also abruptly changes from tarred road into gravel and the gravel section of the road has parts that are in poor condition and are impossible to travel on when it rains. View photos here, here and here.
The community of Ga-Matlapa also has other challenges such as severe water shortages in the entire village and social grant recipients having to travel long distances to access their money, even though there is an operational Post Office in the area that used to issue social grant payments to beneficiaries during payment cycles, and has since stopped.
Residents of Ward 40 deserve access to adequate services and we will be writing to all the relevant MEC’s to urgently address the challenges identified in and around Mashashane and Matlapa villages.