All the health services are free to children 15 years and younger. All services are offered on a first come, first served basis. Bring along your clinic card and child’s immunisation certificate.

The train opens at 08h00 and closes at 14h00. Each patient will be issued with a sticker upon their arrival. Patients are encouraged to come early.

The Phelophepa train arrives in Saldanha on 14 September and opens for service to the public on Monday 16 September 2019 at Saldanha Station. Services will end early on Friday 27 September, the last day of the Saldanha stay.

A transport plan has been developed, covering all towns within the Saldanha Bay Municipal area. Community members from all towns are requested to register at their local clinics and obtain a referral letter from the clinic, in order to access the transport.

MORE ABOUT THE PHELOPHEPA HEALTHCARE TRAIN:

The Transnet-Phelophepa Healthcare Train – the world’s first primary healthcare hospital on wheels – uses the existing rail network in South Africa to make quality medical care an accessible reality for many of South Africa’s most remote communities.

This nineteen-coach train, with its twenty resident staff members, fondly known as the “miracle train”, carries the most modern medical equipment on board.

Phelophepa is indeed a journey of hope that continues to make a history of caring. The name ‘Phelophepa’ combines elements of Sotho and Tswana and, roughly translated, means ‘good, clean health’ – which is exactly what this travelling health clinic provides.

The first of our much-loved Phelophepa Health Trains started operating in 1994. The Phelophepa Health Train has shown incredible growth since its humble beginnings as a three-carriage eye clinic.

The train travels for 35 weeks each year visiting a different rural community every week or two weeks throughout eight provinces. The success of the Transnet-Phelophepa Healthcare Train, together with the increased demand for healthcare services set in motion plans for another train. That dream became a reality when the second train, Phelophepa II, began operation in March 2012.

Although the Transnet-Phelophepa Healthcare Trains can only be in an area for a limited time, the goal is to supplement and support existing facilities to make sure the residents can continue benefitting from quality healthcare once the train has departed. Education and empowerment that leave better equipped and informed communities in its tracks is a core value of the Phelophepa programme.

• Before the train rolls into town, teams are sent out to alert the community of the days the train will be delivering services. A comprehensive social mobilisation strategy is developed and implemented in collaboration with all of the local stakeholders in each community.
• Relationships are established with the existing healthcare providers so that patients can be referred and continue to receive the care they need.
• While the train is in the area, screening and healthcare education are the primary concerns. Nursing teams visit local schools to screen children for health-related problems and educate them about basic healthcare.

From left to right: “Niki Gaika (WC Department of Education), Alderman Eliza Steyn (Mayoral Committee Member: Community Development), Dr Lynette Rossouw (WC Department of Social Development), Alderman Marius Koen (Executive Mayor), Mandu Mallane (South African Local Government Association) and Abé du Plessis (Saldanha Bay Municipality)”.

This was achieved through focussing on:

• Improving stakeholder knowledge on developing a deeper understanding of the current state of ECD at national level, provincial level and more specifically within the Saldanha Bay Municipal area through a WoSA approach;
• Through the involvement of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), develop a better understanding of how municipalities should interpret the legal prescribed framework to support amendments to the Saldanha Bay Municipality ECD draft policy;
• Developing a Whole of Society Approach (WoSA) to the delivery of services targeted at children and families within the municipal area, through the participation of the Departments of Health, Social Development, Education and leading institutions within the field of ECD;
• Expenditure and budgeting reduction through sharing resources in service delivery, with the conference as a mechanism to advance towards an integrated approach to ECD services; and
• Red tape reduction in the land use and building control application process.

“Municipal staff at the launch of  the recycling collection service. More than 1,855 tons of recyclable waste material has been diverted from landfill, creating over 45 local jobs.”

For more information about the recycling service, click on the recycling logo at the bottom of Saldanha Bay Municipality’s homepage at www.sbm.gov.za.