Siyavuya Mzantsi
PENSIONERS – as many as 50 on average, along with children as young as three – are having to queue for hours from 2am to see the lone state dentist at the Gugulethu Clinic.
The clinic closes its doors at 4pm. It is the only one in the community, and also serves Crossroads, Nyanga, Philippi and Manenberg.
The provincial Department of Health and the clinic say the dentist, Dr Gerrie Ferreira, is able to see only 30 people a day due to “limited equipment”.
“The instruments need to be sterilised for up to two hours, but the clinic manages to provide services to more people than expected,” department spokesman Mark van den Heever said.
He did not answer questions on what the department had done since being made aware of the limited equipment.
Van den Heever said Ferreira was supposed to see only 30 patients a day, but often attended to far more – sometimes more than 80 – and did not turn people away.
He sometimes works with dentistry interns from the University of the Western Cape.
“On September 15, the dentist saw 83 patients and on Friday, September 19, he saw 57 patients.
“The Gugulethu dental clinic serves a large geographical area… The need for the service exceeds the resources.”
The clinic opens at 8am on certain days of the week and is closed on days when Ferreira sees patients at Pollsmoor prison and in Delft.
The huge demand has led to some people offering – for a fee – to wait in line for others.
Although a note on the clinic wall says if a patient is caught paying for a spot, they will not see the dentist, the practice persists.
When the Cape Times visited the clinic on two occasions in the early hours, there were more than 30 people in the queue by 8am.
Luyanda Ngwane 67, from Samora Machel, went to the clinic on Friday.
“When I arrived here just after 4am, one lady came after me and all of a sudden she was the first in the line. She gave one guy money. This has been happening for a long time here. I cannot afford to pay money (to have someone hold a place),” Ngwane said.
Patients said “line marshals” would wake up at 2am to queue, charging R30 for a spot.
One of the men, who called himself Mangaliso, said he queuing for someone else, with the hope of making money.
“If you want to be number one in the line, just come here with R30 and you will be the first to see the dentist. I will wake up for you.”
Ntombizanele Yawa, from KTC, was among the first to arrive yesterday.
She had come with her neighbour because she was afraid of being robbed.
“We arrived here just before five. There were already people lining up. The reason why we are here this early is because they take only a certain number of people. Sometimes they can attend to 30 or 40 people,” Yawa said.
“We rely on public services. I had to take the risk and come here because this is my only option to get medical attention,” she said.
Ferreira, who has worked in the public sector for 25 years, said he closed the clinic only on the days that he had other commitments. All of his commitments were in the public sector.