Ubuntu clinic for moms and babies soon to be micro-franchised -Most of our clients are from Cosmo City

A passion for caring for people led Freda Makanete to open a clinic that started in a Wendy house.

Ubuntu Health Care Clinic is a mother and baby clinic. We provide a service to women who mostly don’t want to go to the public sector clinics owing to the time they spend there. So the service we offer is antenatal care for pregnant women. We take good care of them throughout their pregnancy. Should there be any complications, because it’s a midwife practice, we refer them to obstetricians in government hospitals. And for those with medical aid, we refer to the private sector. As a midwife my duty is to just go through the primary healthcare of the mother and, should there be any complications, it is my duty to refer them to the obstetrician – that’s why we then refer them to the hospital.

So that’s what a public clinic would be like. The midwife in the public space would then refer to the obstetrician; that’s how we work. After the mother gives birth she will be coming back. So birth will be for those who want to go to public sector. Mostly we don’t have mothers who give birth in the private sector, since we don’t have obstetricians we work with directly to take care of the mom through the antenatal period, and then the mothers only go there to give birth.

Usually we will see them early in their pregnancy and then later on they will go to the obstetrician. Most of our moms deliver in Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, and then others at Johannesburg General and Hillbrow. Most of our clients are from Cosmo City, so those from that area will deliver in Rahima Moosa. Depending on where the woman lives, we refer them to hospitals according to their address, because that’s how the referral system works with public hospitals.

After they give birth they will come to us for their three-day check-up. We don’t do the HIV programme as yet, so we still refer them for that. Should a mother be found to be HIV-positive antenatally, we refer her to be initiated on ARVs, although the moms still prefer to come back to us for antenatal check-ups, and continue their ARV check-ups with the public sector. So even after birth we do advise them. They will come back for their six-week check-up and, if they can pay, we do the PCR test. But if they can’t pay we refer them back to the government institutions.

Immunisation and wellness check-ups for moms and babies

Then we also offer immunisation services for the babies, and the moms come back for their six-week check-ups as well, for a Pap smear. We will continue with them if they want to do contraception as well. There are other little things that we also do, like wellness check-ups. So if the mom is on blood pressure tablets or wants to check her blood pressure with us, we do blood pressure and sugar tests because at times there are complications with moms who are pregnant, and we find they have diabetes or hypertension. So if that needs to be monitored we do monitor that as well.

Then with the babies we provide services for them until they are 12 years old with their vaccinations. For our vaccines we partly get our stock from the government side and we don’t charge much for it; we charge just for the consultation fee and not for the vaccines. But there are other vaccines like the chicken pox vaccine, the MMR vaccine, that you find in the private sector. So we buy those vaccines and then we charge. So we do see cash clients and medical aid clients.

COSMO CITY - POLICE HUNT SUSPECTS WHO KILLED PARENTS IN FRONT OF CHILDREN

Police say the children were sitting around a fire in their yard in Cosmo City when three gunmen jumped over the wall on Tuesday night.

Police are following up leads after a couple was shot dead at their Cosmo City home in full view of their four children.

Police say the children were sitting around a fire in their yard when three gunmen jumped over the wall on Tuesday night.

When one of the children tried to alert their parents, one of the gunmen shot them both in the head.

The gunmen stole a plasma television.

The learning revolution GAUTENG – Find out how Learning Alive is improving education in South Africa, one lesson at a time.

Imagine that you were preparing a meal for your family. You find a great recipe, go out and buy all the freshest ingredients that you will need and go home to get busy in the kitchen. Then you realise that the pot that you are trying to cook in has a giant hole in its bottom and is leaking.

This is how Ann-Marie Olufuwa, programme manager for the Learning Alive non-governmental organisation (NGO), explains what she and her organisation are trying to do for the youth of South Africa.

“The leaky pot is a metaphor for the mind of a child who is just being taught the facts,” Olufuwa explained. “In order for education to be effective, we have to nurture a growing mind, as well as teach it the facts.”
Learning Alive aims to foster this support for underprivileged schoolchildren with supplementary education lessons which take place outside of mainstream school hours. These courses are linked to the mainstream curriculum, so that it is still relevant academically, but hopes to have a bigger impact on the individual.

The children from Moputa Secondary School begin each Learning Alive lesson with an interactive game like charades.

The NGO offers classes to children who most need support across Gauteng, including Saturday classes in Soweto, Midrand and Cosmo City and after-school classes in the Diepsloot area since 2011.

Since April, Learning Alive has been hosting after-school lessons as part of the English Access Microscholarship Programme at Moputa Secondary School in Midrand.

There are 22 children in each of the classes that Learning Alive run at Moputa Secondary School in Midrand, one for Grade 9s (pictured) and one for Grade 10s.

Sponsored by the United States Department of State and spanning 85 countries worldwide, this programme not only aims to help schoolchildren develop their English but also helps them grow holistically with emphasis on developing leadership skills, critical thinking and the practical use of the knowledge learned in the classroom.

“The American Embassy has provided the funding that allows us to provide 44 Grade 9 and Grade 10 children here [at Moputa Secondary School] with two-year Microscholarships [for these lessons],” explained Sanette van der Merwe, one of the Learning Alive teachers who works with the Moputa children twice a week after the official school day has ended.
She and her colleagues, including Reuben Makhosonke Xaba who also teaches the Moputa children, host their lessons twice a week, for two hours per lesson. “We try and start each lesson with a game,” Van der Merwe added. “In order to nurture teamwork and to help the kids learn more through play. Even though we haven’t [been teaching these children long], it’s amazing to watch how each child is developing, and growing more confident as we go along.”

School holidays: 9 gratifying, non-digital things for kids to do

If you like the work that Learning Alive is doing and would like to support them, they are always looking for help! Donations of books, learning materials, food (as each child is provided with a meal during extra lessons) and classrooms for the lessons to take place in.

For more information, visit their website www.learningalive.co.za; 076 358 2634; info@learningalive.co.za

Daily protests run JMPD off its feet

Police officers are seen walking along the N14 highway near Diepsloot where residents took to blocking the roads and highway during a service delivery protest, 10 July 2017, Johannesburg.

Service delivery demonstrations have escalated in Gauteng in recent months.

Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officers have been sent to handle community protests over lack of service delivery almost every day in recent months, spokesperson Inspector Edna Mamonyane said yesterday.

Since March this year, many parts of Gauteng have been hit by service delivery-related protests, mostly in the south of the province.

Yesterday, Mamonyane said that recently JMPD officers have been going to between four and five community protests daily.

“The protests, which have mainly been about service delivery and land invasions, have had a negative effect on our day-to-day operations.

“We have had to divert some of responsibilities from the roads, as well as fighting crime,” she said.

Last week, the areas affected by protests included Meyerton, in Midvaal, where residents of the Sicelo informal settlement barricaded the busy R59 highway with rocks and burning tyres.

Not far from there, residents of Cosmo City blocked off the old Vereeniging road, the R82.

In Lenasia, residents were also engaged in similar demonstrations as were those in parts of Soweto.

Yesterday, some Diepsloot residents were struggling to get from their homes to work after protesters barricaded the N14 highway and the R511.

According to Mamonyane, yesterday’s protest, which started at 4am, was about electricity and water.

“Since March, we have seen protests spreading to different parts of the province and that has put a strain on our daily operations,” Mamonyane said.

Some other areas that have been affected since March are Ennerdale, Sebokeng, Boipatong and Eldorado Park, all in the south.

Others closer to Johannesburg that have been the site of protests included Roodepoort, Alexandra and Marlboro.

Meanwhile, Metrorail in Gauteng announced that the suspension of train services between Vereeniging and Johannesburg has been lifted following violent protests near Midway, where two lives were lost, including that of a security official.

Train operations along that line resume today, but only between Vereeniging and Midway.

“Commuters are requested to take note that it is still unsafe to operate trains between Midway and Johannesburg.

“All relevant stakeholders are working with community leaders in Klipspruit to ensure the situation improves in the interests of fully restoring the service to normal,” Metrorail said in a statement.

New land use scheme draft approved in council JOBURG – The previous 13 schemes were adopted in the late 70s and early 80s. They differ in their definition of land uses and also prescribe different processes to obtain land use rights

The City of Johannesburg wants to do away with the 13 prevailing historic town planning schemes which were developed during the Apartheid era.

On 29 June, the council approved the draft land use scheme, a tool that regulates the zoning of each property in the City. Joburg’s new MMC for development planning, Funzela Ngobeni told council the scheme is an important tool that affects the daily activities of residents and property owners by prescribing rules related to how properties should be developed and used.

“All landowners and users of land are legally bound by the provisions of such a land use scheme. The previous 13 schemes were adopted in the late 70s and early 80s. They differ in their definition of land use and also prescribe different processes to obtain land-use rights,” Ngobeni explained.

Besides the fact that the tools were developed during the Apartheid era and were outdated, the problem with the current schemes is that they create challenges for the residents and the developing community.

“Emphasis in these old schemes is premised on separation of land uses and areas rather than integration and inclusion. The prescriptions in the schemes create inconsistent rules for land development, depending on the location in the City. For example, to have a house shop (spaza) in Soweto does not require any town planning application but in Cosmo City, it requires a rezoning application, which is a specialised technical and complex process.”

This scheme will soon be brought to communities across the City for comment. The public participation process will last for two months before council will approve a final draft.

Funzela Ngobeni, MMC for Development Planning. 

Ngobeni said the content of a single land use scheme must include economic growth, social inclusion, efficient land development and minimal impact on public health, the environment and natural resources.

“The land use scheme is also the basis for zoning law enforcement in the City.”

The City’s former MMC for development planning, Ruby Mathang, said the ANC fully supports this draft scheme and the City has reached a milestone. “We will celebrate once it is published in the Provincial Gazette.”

Service at your doorstep COSMO CITY – Did you know you can open any kind of case and certify your documents at the Cosmo City Satellite Police Station?

Cosmo City Satellite Police Station.

Residents of Cosmo City and surrounding areas do not have to stress themselves when they need to certify documents or open any crime-related case because the area has a fully functional 24/7 satellite police station.

However, many residents still got to Honeydew Police Station to get assistance.

The satellite station supervisor Sergeant Mamasedi May encouraged residents to use the services provided by them any time of the day.

Cosmo City Satellite Police Station supervisor Sergeant Mamasedi May. Behind her, officers assist a resident in certifying her documents.

“We are a fully functional 24/7 police station with four permanent members and two vehicles patrolling the area. We provide certification of documents, open cases and also provide counselling for victims of traumatic experiences,” said May.

The station was opened in 2012 and it’s located opposite the new fire station on South Africa Drive.

May added that the station also rendered its services to residents who stay as far as Msawawa and Eskom informal settlements.

Although the station did not have holding cells or detectives on the premises, May said cases and suspects were transferred to Honeydew Police Station for investigation purposes.

“A complainant is able to open a case at this office and then the case is transferred to Honeydew where the complainant receives his/her case number and follow-ups on the matter.”

Details: Cosmo City Satellite Police Station on 011 875 9941