Hon member let me start by saying that the department does not deliberately neglect rural areas. It just so happens that there is always going to be a shortage which is worse in rural areas, as compared to the urban areas. This an all over
phenomenon. In this case, when we are dealing with the specific area of Kanyamazane, we can follow that up to see what issues need to be given attention, but in reality what we normally do, when there are shortages of that nature we would simply then ensure that the patients are referred to the nearest available facility so that the issue can be in the hands of those who can handle it.
Some of the clinics cannot handle the issue of rape and therefore we would then need to refer theme. So, that is what we need to always make sure happens. That someone gets referred to the centre that has available expertise to be dealing with the matter.
If there are specific issues of concerns where the member has found something that is unsatisfactory, I request that you write it in a report that we can actually just investigate. However, to balance the shortfalls, we normally move patients to the area where there is available expertise to deal with the problem. Thank you.