The Randburg Municipal Clinic is often overcrowded, with long queues and mothers with young children left sitting outside without adequate shelter from the cold. Reports indicate that around 70% of the clinic's estimated 12,000 recorded files belong to foreign nationals.
Despite the clinic being under-resourced, it serves approximately 350 - 400 patients daily with only one doctor available twice a week.
As the clinic faces situations where the number of patients exceeds available beds, the staff feels the impact.
Gauteng has, in recent years, been battling the issue of illegal foreigners flooding the province.
This comes amid the rising number of illegally hijacked buildings in Johannesburg, occupying open spaces as well as faking title deeds to evict people from their houses.
City of Johannesburg Speaker Nobuhle Mthembu, who visited the clinic last week, told IOL that the situation at the clinic is bad when it rains.
Mthembu said the facility was under pressure from all sides yet it had a top floor that was abandoned for a while and was not in use.
“It would help ease some of the pressure and overcrowding if the top floor can be fixed so that it can be used as well,” she said.
According to Mthembu, a nurse mentioned that most clinics typically have one records room, but this clinic has two due to the sheer volume of files. This is attributed to the clinic lacking WiFi or digital systems, forcing them to rely on an outdated filing system instead of eHealth.
“The nurse estimated them to be about 12,000 and many of them are foreign nationals,” she said.
She stated that the medication is also not enough to cater to all the patients who visit the clinics.
“The nurse said even though they get their normal allocation like any other clinic, they usually don't last for the whole month and they sometimes have to order twice.
“The nurse also indicates that the only doctor they have comes twice a week and they are also in need of queue marshals and more admin staff to assist with the high number of patients they get everyday.
"She estimated the average waiting time for one patient to be about three hours,” she added.
However, according to the nurse who spoke to Mthembu, the reason for the situation was that they were afraid of Operation Dudula, an organisation that deals with illegal foreign nationals.
“It is the only clinic that Dudula has not been bothering. Obviously, this puts a strain on the system, especially with the medication as the nurse indicated that sometimes they have to order twice a month.”
The nurse also indicated that foreign nationals sometimes come with different names to get medication, which can also explain the high number of files.
The clinic has one water tank to run their entire facility. This is despite Johannesburg facing serious water shortages.
Mthembu said they will consult with the Section 79 committee to ask the MMC about measures to address this matter and to ensure South Africans were prioritised at clinics.
South Africans have also been calling for the government to close borders and clamp on illegal migration to avoid such incidents.
IOL has tried to obtain comment from the Gauteng Department of Health but to no avail.
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