Hon Speaker, the ANC views the opening of a newly- built 24-hour Tlhabane Community Health Centre on Tuesday 21 October 2014 to service the community of Tlhabane in Rustenburg and surrounding villages as a step in the right direction. The community health centre also serves as a referral facility for various clinics within the Rustenburg Municipality where patients can receive treatment for hypertension, diabetes, TB and HIV, male medical circumcision, and there is a reproductive health service, among others.
The new community health centre will also bring much needed relief to Job Shimankana Tabane Hospital, which has seen an influx of patients from local communities who would normally be treated at clinics. The ANC in the province is putting a lot of focus on and resources into revitalising primary health care through the building of clinics and health centres in order to improve access to health care to mitigate the tremendous growth in the population of Rustenburg over the past five years, resulting in long queues at clinics and hospitals. I thank you. [Applause.]