Less than three months after re-opening its doors, staff and patients at Hanover Park Clinic where left shaken when an armed man threatened a gangster inside the clinic.
|||Cape Town - Less than three months after Hanover Park Clinic re-opened its doors, staff and patients were this week rattled after an armed man threatened to shoot a gangster in the clinic.
Siyabulela Mamkeli, the mayco member for health, confirmed a gang member held a firearm to the head of another gangster after one ran into the clinic for cover.
Mamkeli said the person who was accosted was searched by the police and nothing was found on him.
Nobody was hurt during the incident, and no arrests had been made.
The incident took place a few months after the clinic re-opened in February.
Last November, the clinic had to be closed following an upsurge in gang violence in Hanover Park.
Staff at the clinic were moved to the Newfields Village satellite facility with additional services being offered at the Hanover Park Community Health Centre, even though its doors were closed on Sundays because of shootings.
The clinic was re-opened four months later after the council finalised an internal safety plan .
In February, the council said staff had shown a willingness to return to the main clinic, provided a safety plan had been devised and implemented to ensure their safety and the safety of their clients.
Some of the safety measures initiated included regular patrols in the vicinity of the clinic throughout the day and the installation of security hardening measures like bullet-proof windows and handheld metal scanners.
The council said it had a combined operational and capital budget of about R12 million for security in this financial year.
Mamkeli said services at the Hanover Park Clinic were not disrupted and service delivery was continuing.
Mamkeli said sporadicgang-related shootings in the streets of Manenberg had also resulted in the temporary closure of Manenberg’s clinic.
Elizabeth Bantom, chairwoman of the Hanover Park Health Forum, expressed concern at the ongoing gang violence in the area, saying poor policing exacerbated it.
“There has always been gangs in Hanover Park as far as I can remember, but things are made worse by poor police visibility. If we can have more regular police patrols I am sure things would be better,“ she said.
Cape Argus