The renovation of the Evah Mota Clinic in Tsheseng village in Qwaqwa, Free State, is stalled because the provincial Department of Health owes the contractor millions of rands.
The clinic has been closed since 2022 for major renovations. In the meantime, clinic staff are using old church buildings to treat patients, store medication and keep confidential patient files.
The contractor, Phunya Consulting, abandoned the clinic site in November after waiting for payment. The department has only paid R7-million of the R10-million renovation cost.
GroundUp visited the site last week and found it closed, with security guards stationed outside.
At the church building being used temporarily as the clinic, patients were queuing outside to see the doctor, some sitting on the ground.
READ NEXT: Hijacking of mobile clinic sparks outcry in Eastern Cape
Patients wait outside in rain
One of the patients, Seipati Makume, said the church building is too small, so patients have to wait outside, regardless of the weather. “There are no chairs. You will stay at the clinic the whole day because the service is very slow. Imagine staying outside while it is raining,” she said.
Sipho Mgudlwa, an executive at Phunya Consulting, confirmed that the contractor had left the site in November after the department failed to pay the outstanding balance for work done.
The partly renovated Evah Mota clinic remains closed. Photo: Tladi Moloi/GroundUp
“We invoiced them last year, but we did not get the money. We kept on working with our own money until our coffers dried up and we had to stop.
“We wrote letters to the department, but we were told that they don’t have the budget to pay us. Our last communication was in March,” he said. Mgudlwa said this was not the first time the project had been delayed by a failure to pay.
Department spokesperson Mondli Mvambi confirmed that the department had only paid R7-million of the R10-million to the contractor. “The Evah Mota Clinic is 95% complete with outstanding work on waste management and the water tank.”
“There was a delay in the payment processes to the main contractor, which resulted in the contractor going off-site.” He said the delay was due to “cash flow challenges” in the department. “We are working on mechanisms to get the outstanding work done,” Mvambi said.
This article was first published by GroundUp.
ALSO READ: Clinical psychologist Mojanaga champions self-care
Get the Health For Mzansi newsletter: Your bi-weekly dose of kasi health, wellness and self-care inspiration.
