Finetown Clinic opening ‘a victory for the community’ says Action-For-Accountability

The Action-For-Accountability Project, a project of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and its partners, the Public Service Accountability Monitor and Accountability Lab SA, welcomes the official opening of the Finetown Clinic.

A4A has been campaigning relentlessly for the clinic to open since the start of the project in 2022. The Clinic was completed in 2020 but numerous delays saw the opening of the Clinic to the public deferred several times.

A4A recently called on the MEC for Wellness and Health, MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko to take accountability for the numerous delays that have seen the community deprived of the services that the Clinic has to offer for such a long period since its completion.

Nonkosi Maliti, the Community Organiser for A4A in Finetown expressed her delight at the news of the opening and wanted to thank the many other stakeholder organisation in Finetown, especially the Clinic Steering Committee for their tireless efforts in this campaign.

She further added that the accountability work does not end once the doors of the Clinic are open, instead it is the beginning of the relevant departments to remain accountable to the community for the quality of services being rendered as well as for the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of the facility.

The A4A project also calls on the staff of the clinic to set new standards for service delivery to the community and to give real meaning to the principles of Batho Pele. The A4A Project will engage the relevant departments to obtain the service delivery standards set out for the clinic which are essential for optimising the health benefits to the community.

A4A will conduct community surveys to measure community satisfaction and community views on the services offered by the clinic. These surveys will hold great value to the relevant government departments, and we trust that it will be seen as a valuable feedback mechanism.

Finetown also held a by-election last week and the A4A Project looks forward to working with the newly elected Ward Councillor in raising the level of awareness about the rights of residents to have ongoing accountability in all areas of service delivery.