A site visit at the GF Jooste Hospital ended even before it began after members of the ANC Western Cape leadership met with concerned Manenberg residents outside the hospital on Thursday. Provincial ANC chairperson, Marius Fransman, provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs and members of the Manenberg Steering Committee for the city’s upgrading process were not allowed onto the premises to evaluate the current state of the vandalised hospital.

The GF Jooste Hospital is said to become a Metro Police training Academy as part of local government’s plan to improve and re-develop Manenberg. A new, unidentified location, will become a new regional hospital to the people of Manenberg and surrounding areas.

Speaking to VOC News, Fransman said the concerns from residents will be taken up in the provincial legislature and with Premier Helen Zille’s provincial government.

“De Lille has misled our Cape flats community. We will demand answers and as the ANC, we will side with the community. The community was not properly consulted. This is a gimmick and they [local government] are using the concerns of safety when they suddenly have come out telling people that they will now be establishing a police academy,” Fransman said.

The provincial ANC leadership will now sit with their legal team to put a strong legal case forward to stop this action by the DA led government.

“We are calling on coloured people in Cape Town to open up their eyes,” Fransman added.

Some of the “lies” which Fransman is accusing the local government of was written in point form on a pamphlet which was handed out to residents and media.

“The hospital will be temporarily closed for ‘reconstruction’ for a few months… the hospital has been scrapped, closed down completely and permanently for more than a year now: No public participation took place to get the affected community to buy in,” the pamphlet read.

Meanwhile, the acting chairperson of the Manenberg Steering Committee on upgrades in Manenberg, Jonathan Jansen said the committee and residents formed part of extensive consultations with local government in establishing how Manenberg can become a better environment. However, Jansen shared that the committee had been in agreement on the time frame for which the government proposed on the hospital upgrades as well as the new plan to now establish a police academy on the grounds.

“How can a training academy guarantee safety in the community. What we do want is a regional hospital that can accommodate our healthcare needs. What is happening today, we find Manenberg residents going to hospitals in surrounding areas and are being turned away or forced to go to Groote Schuur Hospital instead. This is not beneficial for our people who are already struggling,” Jansen further explained.

The Western Cape government did not have a prepared statement in response to these allegations at the time this article was published. VOC (Ra’eesah Isaacs)