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Home :: Projects :: St John the Baptist St John the BaptistTHE WINTERVELD AREA OF GAUTENG
The borehole is switched on by the then District Governor
1. The Winterveld (Winter Fields) is an under-developed rural area located approximately 40 kilometres North West of Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa.
2. It was, since about 1860, one large farm where the owner grazed his cattle during the winter months – hence the name.
3. In the 1930’s the farm was divided into plots of five and ten morgen (approximately 2 acres or 0.8 hectares per morgen) and sold as freehold agricultural holdings to black people.
4. During the 1950’s and 1960’s many forcible translocations of black people took place under the erstwhile nationalist government and whole communities were relocated in the newly-built “townships” of GaRankuwa and Mabopane (areas closer to Pretoria and to the immediate South and East of the Winterveld.
5. There were not enough houses and facilities to accommodate and cater for the displaced families and many of them spread out into the Winterveld. The plot-owners swiftly realised that much more money could be made by renting out a few square metres of their land than simply farming it!
6. In the early days there was only one Police station and thus the area became a haven for those fleeing from laws both just and unjust. It was a relatively safe place for those seeking work but who were denied residence in or near the areas where work was available by the infamous Group Areas Act.
7. Winterveld was reasonably near to the “work available” areas of Rosslyn, Brits, Pretoria and even Johannesburg. ‘Near’ must be seen in context where a 2 to 3 hours journey each way to and from work was not uncommon!
8. However, the newcomers to the Winterveld, in addition to being exploited by the existing plot-owners, were ‘illegal’ in terms of the old Apartheid laws and they could not let their presence be known or advertised. This fact militated against any attempts at building up a cohesive and functioning community.
9. In addition, parents could not register their children who could not, without a birth certificate, subsequently attend school. Later in life they could not seek ‘legal’ employment, set up a business or, in old age, apply for a pension. The result was a high rate of illiteracy, massive unemployment and poverty; all of which combined to create an environment of depression.
10. Health facilities in the Winterveld were extremely limited. Until the early 1990’s there was only one government-run clinic (for legal or registered residents!). There was no infrastructure and water had to be purchased from those plot owners that had boreholes. There were no sewerage or waste removal facilities and rudimentary dwellings or shelters were routinely made from old packing cases, corrugated cardboard, packing case material and sun-dried mud bricks which invariably disintegrated when exposed to the first rains.
11. In the past eight years conditions have improved slightly but a huge amount a work remains to be done to afford even a modicum of comfort and dignity to the majority of the Winterveld inhabitants.
12. However, there are still critical ongoing factors which contribute to the totally unsatisfactory state of affairs in the immediate vicinity of the proposed project:
• Poor roads making outreach services difficult without a special vehicle
• High unemployment and incipient crime
• Insufficient school facilities and the historic legacy of illiteracy
• Increasing child and woman abuse and rape
• Lack of clean reticulated water
• Lack of sufficient health services
• Rampant escalation of HIV/AIDS
• Severe malnutrition and skin conditions due to poverty.
13. Some of the tenants have moved out to other informal settlements around GaRankuwa, Mabopane and the newer township of Shoshanguwe but many more have moved in including many thousands of ‘illegal’ refugees from Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
14. The exact population of the area is unknown but it is estimated to be between 600 and 750 000.
15. Unemployment is still a major problem as is poverty. Many of the families are headed by mothers or grandmothers either because the men work in other parts of the country or have, frequently, simply deserted them.
16. As in the rest of South Africa, HIV/AIDS has reached endemic proportions in the Winterveld putting an unbearable strain on public and private resources as well as causing many deaths in the younger strata of the population. There has been a significant increase in the number of patients suffering from Tuberculosis.
17. In the 1980’s the Catholic Stigmatine Fathers opened an Old Age Home for the destitute in the area and in 1996, as a result of many requests from the local inhabitants, the Pretoria Diocese Nurses Guild started a voluntary service and founded the Saint John the Baptist Clinic in 1997.
18. The clinic started with one retired nurse 3 days per week and nurses on rotation on their days off or leave from their regular employment. This has developed to a Clinic Manager, two professional nurses, one enrolled nurse and volunteers. Community health services, including HIV/AIDS counselling, are performed by two employed workers and two volunteers.
19. Thanks to contributions and support from patrons in Italy through the Stigmatine Fathers and contributions from an American Catholic Medical Care Association a modern clinic was built and care is given to approximately 1 200 patients per month. In addition the (nursing) sisters/community health workers made approximately
4 500 outreach visits during 2001.
20. The majority of patients that come to the clinic or are seen at their villages are suffering from:
• Hypertension (because of the hopelessness of the environment)
• Diabetes
• Malnutrition
• Arthritis
• Skin diseases
• Chronic diarrhoea
• HIV/AIDS
• Tuberculosis
21. There are in the communities in the immediate vicinity of the clinic 35 AIDS orphans between the ages of 6 months and 12 years who are totally reliant on the charity of the community and assistance in the way of food given to them by the clinic.
22. The vast majority of the patients visiting the clinic and the AIDS orphans mentioned in paragraph 21 manifest the symptoms of malnutrition. Patients are fed when they visit the clinic and the AIDS orphans are given a weekly supply of staple foods
23. The creation of a viable and sustained food garden producing fresh vegetables will lead to, perhaps, the biggest single improvement in the quality of life of all patients and the AIDS orphans.
24. An ancillary benefit is that the food gardens will also be able to supply much needed staple foods to the 65, totally destitute resident of the Old Age Home on the same property thus freeing the scant resources of the Stigmatine Fathers for other purposes.
25. The Rotary Clubs of Towsontowne (Baltimore) D 7620 obtained a Matching Grant from The Rotary Foundation in 2003 to provide shade netting over the very dry and hot terrain of the clinic and this is now in place.
26. As a matter of urgency the complete revamping of the water system of the clinic needs was undertaken by the Rotary Club of Pretoria West in 2005. A borehole pump was installed and irrigation was designed for a huge garden to make the 120 person old age home self sufficient in vegetables. The food garden is also used by the local community who are allotted “beds” from time to time.
27. The next project involves the refurbishing of a disused water reservoir into a “rondavel’ to be used as a waiting room by the patients and families visiting the clinic, a lecture/instruction shelter for the social workers giving instructions in HIV/Aids prevention and treatment, pre and post natal guidance and nutrition and also as a day shelter/play room for the many HIV/Aids orphans that are supported by the clinic.
The disused water reservoir from inside
The reservoir from outside – needing a roof and doors
28. The water reservoir is destined to have a hole knocked in the wall to make a door. A thatch structure will then be erected over the whole reservoir using local labour and expertise [thereby creating much needed employment.] Once erected the inside will be levelled and the floor completed with a cement screed.
29. The new structure will then be divided with internal partitions to make space for
• A reception area for the clinic
• A play area for the AIDS orphans who attend the clinic
• A sewing room for teaching of sewing and other life skills to the local women.
30. THE COST OF THE PROJECT
Building the roof and thatching it R30 000
Refurbishing the floors and putting doors R12 000
Furniture R10 000
Electricity and finishes R 5 000
TOTAL PROJECT R57 000
31. The Rotary Club of Pretoria West is looking for partners in this project.
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