Johannesburg - North West premier Thandi Modise will start renovating children's wards in public hospitals in the province, her spokesman Lesiba Kgwele said on Saturday.
Kgwele said Modise announced on Friday, that the Thandi Ruth Modise Health Development (TRMHD) Trust would renovate paediatric wards at public hospitals throughout the province before expanding its scope across the rest of the country.
He said Modise was moved by the depressing conditions under which children aged one to 12 years lived at Mahikeng Provincial Hospital.
She experienced first hand their plight when she volunteered 67 minutes of her time to do community service at the ward during the July 2011 Mandela Week.
Kgwele said renovation at the paediatric ward in the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital has been completed.
Next hospital to benefit from the trust was the Job Shimankane Tabane in Rustenburg.
The trust was established in terms of the Trust Property Control Act as a charitable organisation for the purposes of a public benefit activity of assisting in the creation of health facilities as well as the general advancement of the health sector.
A board of trustee was appointed by Modise to oversee the affairs of the trust.
“Since the hospital 1/8Mahikeng Hospital 3/8 also serves as a referral hospital for all clinics in the province and in light of the growing population at the hospital, part of Ms Modise’s long-term vision is to establish an entirely new children’s wing,” said Kgwele.
The trust raised R500,000 at a fund raising event in Mahikeng on Friday.
“It was a success because last year only R75,000 was raised. This year it was a success because the trust has been registered,” said Kgwele. - Sapa