The City of Cape Town’s Community Services and Health Directorate is committed to responding directly to the social services needs of residents as sustainably as possible while redressing imbalances in access to quality community spaces in our poorest communities. The directorate has closed off a successful 2019/2020 financial year with a number of completed projects across departments.
Some of the strategic projects completed included upgrades to existing infrastructure, installation of boreholes and generators as well as the establishment of two additional Safe Spaces for street people.
| Total Spent | Percentage Spent | |
| Support Services | 25,291,157 | 95,0% |
| Recreation & Parks | 132,641,001 | 90,8% |
| Library & Information Services | 31,744,503 | 98,0% |
| City Health | 59,787,372 | 94,7% |
| Social Development & ECD | 13,899,183 | 99,3% |
| Planning & Development | 45,399,282 | 91,8% |
| Community Services & Health | 308,762,499 | 93,1% |
‘Despite the challenges presented during the first half of this year, the Directorate has performed admirably and completed a raft of projects that will benefit our communities. The work done will not only enhance the user experience, but will also increase the lifespan of the facilities in question. We are immensely proud of the work done, no matter the size of the project, because each little bit contributes to our goal of providing quality facilities and services to the public,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.
Library and Information Services (LIS)
LIS completed a project to replace asbestos roofs at eight library buildings, including Bellville South, Belhar, Langa, Tableview, Llwandle, Blaauwbergstrand, Khayelitsha and Elsies River libraries.
In addition, the department spent R8,9 million on other repairs, maintenance and renovations to provide new enclosed study areas, increased security and an improved layout flow in libraries such as Brown’s Farm, Strandfontein, Bonteheuwel and Ravensmead.
Additionally, renovations and upgrades are in the final stages of completion at the Rondebosch Library at a cost of R1,6 million. The work included the full replacement of the asbestos roof and major repairs to an interior wall.
Furthermore, the department prioritised the purchase of books and other library materials to the extent of R9 million, as well as procuring subscriptions to print and digital newspapers and magazines to the value of R4,6m. To keep up with global technology, R9,8m was spent on essential IT equipment and infrastructure upgrades to facilitate network connectivity and to enhance the overall user experience in library services.
It is disheartening that library buildings were subjected to a spate of break-ins and vandalism, which resulted in the hardening and securing of facilities. This unfortunately impacts on services and eats into budgets that could be more effectively used for services to communities.
Recreation and Parks
During the drought, many of our sports fields were off limits, impacting on the many sporting codes that rely on the use of these facilities. By installing alternatives, we ensured greater certainty for thousands of users. In keeping with our water resilience strategy, we continued to prioritise boreholes and other alternative irrigation solutions to the value of over R7 million which were installed at 11 sports fields, including PP Smit Sports Complex, Uitsig Sports Field, Woodlands Sports Ground, Mandela Park Stadium and Accordian Park Sports Ground.
The Recreation and Parks Department upgraded three swimming pools (Trafalgar, Athlone and Kensington) and sporting facilities in Nyanga, Gugulethu and Mamre. The department also upgraded several parks, the Maitland Cemetery Chapel and worked to include burial capacity at the Atlantis Cemetery, Welmoed Cemetery and Metro South East cemetery.
Upgrading of parks across the city, purchasing of gym and play equipment for our community centres and recreation hubs took place across the entire city. Notable successes include:
- R8,2 million – Upgrades to meet the Safety at Sports & Recreational Events Act (SASREA), 2010 (Act No.2 of 2010)
- R4,9 million Manenberg Integrated Project
- R3,6 million for the installation of Astroturf in Gugulethu, NY 116
- R2,6 million upgrade to Mamre Sports Complex
- R2,2 million upgrade to Millers Camp Sportsfield
- R1,1 million upgrade to Princessvlei
‘Sadly, over R9 million was spent on the hardening and securitising of facilities to lessen the impact of vandalism and theft that has been inflicted upon a number of our well-used and essential buildings and parks,’ said Councillor Badroodien.
City Health
The department has experienced load-shedding over the last few years with interruption of services dependent on the stage of load-shedding. Many of our most affected clinics are situated in vulnerable communities and these interruptions often lead to long waiting times and services being interrupted.
‘We are committed to ensuring that as many of our primary healthcare facilities are able to continue delivering services, even in times of load-shedding, and we will continue our alternative electricity generation project in the current financial year,’ said Councillor Badroodien.
In September 2019, City Health officially opened a larger R46 million clinic in Pelican Park. The Pelican Park Community Day Centre (CDC) is the biggest project ever undertaken by City Health and will provide comprehensive primary health care services to the communities of Pelican Park, Eagle Park, New Horizon, Lotus River, and surrounding areas which include nearly 80 000 people.
Generators were installed at eight clinics: Bloemkombos, Protea, Scottsdene, Matthew Goniwe, Wesbank, Eerste River, Gordons Bay and Spencer Road.
City Health currently celebrates 79 clinics that meet ideal clinic status and 12 clinics that meet platinum status. We remain committed to retaining and increasing the number of clinics that meet the national core standards and ideal clinic criteria. To ensure that we achieved this in the previous financial year, over R36 million was spent to ensure our clinics effectively address the infrastructural and operational deficiencies and by so doing, improve the quality of Primary Health Care at public sector clinics. An ideal clinic is a health facility with good infrastructure, adequate staff, adequate resources (medicine and supplies), with good administrative processes and sufficient bulk supplies. It uses applicable clinical policies, protocols, guidelines to ensure the provision of quality health services.
‘Unfortunately, over R9,2 million was spent on hardening and improving security at clinics across the city. Clinics sadly remain soft targets for vandalism and theft, especially in our most vulnerable communities,’ said Councillor Badroodien.
Social Development and Early Childhood Development (SDECD)
The SDECD department facilitated the construction of the new Heideveld ECD to the value of just over R6 million. This facility will be able to take care of 150 children by offering a wide range of opportunities to support their development in this critical stage of learning.
Additional successes can be celebrated with the opening of two additional safe spaces for street people in Bellville and the CBD to the value of just over R5 million. These new safe spaces can host over 200/500 (non-COVID-19) street people and connect them directly to opportunities through partnerships with a wide range of communities and service providers. This new financial year, in order to further increase our bed numbers, we will launch additional safe spaces across the city.
The Arts and Culture Branch affected upgrades to the Hugo Lambrecht Auditorium in Parow, which included repairs to the air conditioners. The department also facilitated the painting of the Rust en Vrede building Durbanville, which, because of its heritage status required a special process and expertise. These projects were completed at a cost of just under R6 million.
Future planning
‘These facilities are essential to the quality of life of our residents and help knit the fabric of society together. It’s where we play, socialise and relax together, and each has an important role in the communities where they are located.
‘Community Services and Health facilities are fundamental in providing opportunities to improve quality of life related to health, learning, recreation and social support that assist community development and social cohesion. Therefore, investment in social infrastructure and programmes must be prioritised and appropriately resourced,’ added Councillor Badroodien.
Despite the facility management, maintenance and vandalism challenges severely impact service provision.
Future investment in the social facilities will be guided by an integrated approach and focussed on areas of greatest need by expanding capacity through upgrading/extending or building new facilities where it is needed the most and developing optimised new models of co-location and clustering as well as multi-level facilities.