Malesolle Mokoatsi travels about 60km to General De La Rey Hospital. (Photo: Nthusang Lefafa/Spotlight)News & Features
2nd April 2025 | Nthusang Lefafa
People who live near Thusong District Hospital, which closed in 2022, and the Christiana District Hospital, which was destroyed by fire in 2021, told Spotlight they are frustrated over long ambulance wait times, overcrowded clinics, and the high cost of traveling to alternative healthcare facilities.
On 8 September 2021, a devastating fire ravaged the Christiana District Hospital, destroying renovations worth over R95 million. A forensic investigation later concluded that the blaze was caused by human error. Just a few months later, on 21 January 2022, the North West Health Department shut down the Thusong District Hospital, citing serious concerns about patient safety and the conditions under which staff were working.
More than two years later, these closures have left many in the region struggling to access healthcare services, sparking growing frustration among residents.
“I spend R60 for a return trip to collect my treatment for hypertension and arthritis at General De La Rey District Hospital,” says Malesolle Mokoatsi who is from Sheila Village located near the closed Thusong District Hospital.
She says she has to travel 60km for healthcare after allegedly receiving poor treatment from workers at Tlalelo Madyibi Clinic (previously known as the Itsoseng Poli Clinic), which is 10km from her home.
“Sometimes we find that there is no medication at the General De La Rey Hospital and we are told to come the following day,” says Mokoatsi.
She doesn’t work and says that her application for the Social Relief of Distress grant, which would have provided her with R370 a month, was rejected.
“I cannot afford to travel back and forth because I am unemployed, so I end up having to ask someone to collect my treatment,” she says.
Letlhogonolo Matebele, also from Sheila Village and unemployed, says she needed to cough up R600 for transport costs after an ambulance failed to show up nearly four hours after she had an asthma attack.
“I was struggling to breathe and my family had to call an ambulance at 19:00. At 23:00 the ambulance had not arrived, and my family decided to ask for assistance from a local transport operator who charges R600 at night,” she says.
Matebele claims the mobile clinic serving their village fails to stick to its schedule and lacks essential medications needed by the community.
She says she now has to travel 15km, costing around R30 for a round trip, to collect her hypertension medication and asthma pumps from the Itsoseng Community Healthcare Centre.
Thusong District Hospital was a vital lifeline for communities unable to afford the journey to General De La Rey Hospital. Situated along the R503 road between Mahikeng and Lichtenburg, the hospital which opened in 1968 served over 200 000 people from towns such as Lichtenburg, Coligny, Biesiesvlei, Verdwaal, Sheila, Bodibe, and Itsoseng.
The above map shows the locations of all the healthcare facilities mentioned in this article, however it is important to note that the Tlalelo Madyibi Clinic is listed under the name Itsoseng Poli Clinic.
When Spotlight visited the site where Thusong District Hospital once stood, it was a stark scene of destruction and neglect. The area had been completely vandalised and demolished, with a few men seen illegally dismantling what was left and hauling away bricks. Some of them said they planned to sell the bricks, while others intended to use them for their own homes. There was no sign of security, and it appeared that there was little left to protect.
‘Not enough space, no privacy’
Tlalelo Madyibi Clinic in Itsoseng Township opened in October last year to help manage the overflow of patients from Thusong Gateway Clinic, which, along with Thusong District Hospital, was closed in 2022.
Although the signage states that Tlalelo Madyibi Clinic operates 24 hours a day, it actually only operates for 12 hours a day.
A senior nurse at the clinic explains that, despite having a large waiting area outside, there isn’t enough space inside to accommodate all the patients needing care.
“The clinic is too small and this makes it easy for diseases to spread easily amongst patients. The headcount of patients is too high,” says the nurse, who requested to remain anonymous, since she is not authorised to speak to the media. “In the emergency room, there is only one bed and we are sometimes forced to use a stretcher if there is more than one emergency cases.”
She points out that patients lack privacy in the consulting rooms, making it difficult to provide the care they deserve, adding that nurses are being stretched thin, often having to shoulder the responsibilities of a pharmacist as well.
“The medicine room resembles a pharmacy, and we end up spending hours doing stocktaking and ordering medicine. We could be using the time to treat patients,” she says.
She recalls an incident when an ambulance took too long to arrive, forcing her to use her own family car to rush a sick child to the paediatric ward at the Itsoseng Community Healthcare Centre.
The nurse claims that the Itsoseng Community Healthcare Centre, which is meant to transfer adult patients to nearby hospitals, is effectively operating as a district hospital, with some adult patients being admitted to consulting rooms for up to two days.
‘Long waiting hours, no space, ambulance delays’
Since losing their own district hospital, patients in Christiana are experiencing similar challenges to those who previously relied on Thusong District Hospital.
Maria Thameng recalls waiting for hours for an ambulance to take her relative from a clinic to the hospital.
“We waited four hours for an ambulance to transfer my niece from Utlwanang Community Healthcare Centre to Vryburg District Hospital when she had an abscess in her stomach.
“The Utlwanang Community Healthcare Centre does not have enough space for all patients, it is very small. Sometimes you end up spending more than six hours at the clinic just to get help,” she claims.
‘People are struggling’
Theo Gerber, a Democratic Alliance councilor in the Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality, says it has been three weeks since a contractor who was doing work at the Christiana Hospital site left because he was not paid by government.
“The people are struggling and the contractor says he is getting calls from the public asking when he will resume work because they need this facility to be up and running.”
Gerber says although a referral system is being used by the department, the nearest district hospital is about 60km away from Christiana in Bloemhof. He says this puts a strain on emergency services.
Government response
Tshegofatso Mothibedi, spokesperson for the North West health department, confirmed to Spotlight that Tlalelo Madyibi Clinic is not registered as a community health centre. But he says there are plans for the clinic to operate as a 24-hour service point during the next financial year.
He acknowledges staffing issues but didn’t provide any specifics. “The current challenge is staffing levels and these will only be addressed upon approval by the province on the submission to increase health workers,” he says.
Commenting on Sheila Clinic, Mothibedi says it is scheduled to open around August this year.
The department admits that on some Wednesdays, the mobile clinic that services Sheila Village was unavailable due to breakdowns and scheduled repairs. “Patients were then referred to either Itsoseng Community Healthcare Centre or Tlalelo Madyibi Clinic,” says Mothibedi.
A proposal to designate the Itsoseng Community Healthcare Centre as a district hospital has been submitted to the Minister of Health for approval and is still pending, he adds.
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Responding to the claim of adults being admitted to Itsoseng Community Healthcare Centre, Mothibedi says: “Patients admitted at the Itsoseng Community Healthcare Centre are only children through the approval of the MEC of Health, adult patients are either referred to Gelukspan District Hospital, General De La Rey Hospital and Mahikeng Provincial Hospital.”
Regarding the future of the land where Thusong District Hospital was located, Mothibedi says that following its decommissioning, the hospital was transferred to Public Works, which is the custodian of all government buildings.
“Medical equipment and furniture that was used at Thusong District Hospital was transferred to be used by Itsoseng Community Healthcare Centre and General De La Rey District Hospital,” says Mothibedi.
He did not address whether the department has a clear strategy to ensure timely arrivals of ambulances. However, Mothibedi says that the province currently has 114 operational ambulances, with an additional 60 set to be added in April as the new financial year begins.
The department was unable to provide a clear timeline for when repairs at Christiana Hospital, following a fire in 2021, will be completed. Currently, no work is being done at the hospital site, but Mothibedi says the consultants are scheduled to be paid in early April and will resume work thereafter.
