Documenting healthcare stories across the Eastern Cape: from Buffalo City to Mankosi village
For an average Mankosi Village resident to get to the nearest healthcare facility, it takes hours to get there. Mankosi is a remote rural community in the Eastern Cape with about 6000 residents, 60km outside of Mthatha. For Nozibongo Tyalinkomo, a Mankosi resident, it takes a huge toll on her to go to the nearest clinic because she has to walk long distances to and from the clinic, or hire a car that will cost her a lot of money. This challenge is just one of many faced by residents when seeking healthcare.
Other challenges that they face include the unofficial opening of the locally built clinic of Mankosi, forcing residents to endure long journeys for medical care. Staff attitudes, lack of ambulance services, and financial constraints exacerbated the situation, particularly for pregnant women and unemployed individuals.
“We have a clinic here in Mankosi, the community built it, all we need now are healthcare workers to come and provide healthcare services to the people,” said Gladys Siqcau, the Mankosi Chief’s wife.
When the residents get to the clinic, one of the biggest challenges is that the clinic separates its patients by chair colour. “We are embarrassed to go to the clinic because people are going to judge us according to the seats that we sit on,” said one of the young people.
Traditional healers often serve as the first recourse for many men, leading to delayed medical interventions. Stigma surrounding clinic visits further deterred men from seeking essential healthcare services, despite prevalent diseases like epilepsy, TB, and HIV.
“There are health issues that men face, but can’t go get treated because they are embarrassed to talk to female health workers,” mentioned Lungisa Mntwini, from One to One Africa.
Amidst these challenges, community members highlighted the invaluable role of organisations like One to One Africa, an organisation that seeks to address gaps in physical and mental healthcare in neglected and underserved communities. Their home visitation programs, aimed at health education and mentorship, encouraged individuals, particularly pregnant women, to seek healthcare services.
Proposed solutions from the Mankosi community include urging the government to officially open the local clinic, increasing nursing staff in existing facilities, and enhancing the frequency of mobile clinic visits. These measures aim to address the systemic barriers to healthcare access and improve the overall well-being of the community.
The story of the community of Mankosi is one of myriad of stories that the Rural Health Advocacy Project’s outreach team encountered on a recent engagement in the Eastern Cape.
The outreach team’s journey through the Eastern Cape started in the Buffalo City Metro, visiting communities such as Duncan Village, New Life, and Mzamomhle. The team then dropped by the OR Tambo district visiting areas such as Nyandeni and Mankosi Village.
The mission was to document the experiences of TB survivors and community members when accessing healthcare, shedding light on crucial healthcare challenges.
In the Buffalo City metro, TB survivors voiced concerns about stigma hindering early detection and treatment completion. Many shared their struggle with late diagnoses at hospitals instead of local clinics, with some only being diagnosed at public hospitals despite prior visits to private facilities. Nutritional support, unemployment, and household hunger were cited as additional barriers to treatment adherence.
Vuyiswa Zanekile, a TB survivor from New Life explained that TB patients would be able to take their treatment better if they had enough food. “I think that if we get food parcels, that will really help.”