By Charmaine Ndlela
Gauteng has expanded its mobile clinic fleet to 53 with the addition of seven units, as the provincial government steps up efforts to bring primary healthcare services closer to underserved communities.
Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness Faith Mazibuko unveiled the seven mobile clinics at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital on Tuesday.
The units will be deployed across the Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and Sedibeng health districts.
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The expansion represents a 15% increase in the province’s mobile clinic fleet, which previously stood at 46 units.
The new clinics are intended to extend primary healthcare services to communities that face barriers to accessing fixed clinics and hospitals, particularly residents in townships, informal settlements, hostels, and farming communities.
Johannesburg will have 12 mobile clinics, Ekurhuleni 11, Tshwane eight, and Sedibeng seven. The West Rand, which already has the province’s largest fleet with 15 mobile clinics, was not included in the latest allocation.
The department said the decision was aimed at strengthening mobile clinic capacity in the other four districts.
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The expansion follows the distribution of 16 mobile clinics across the province in February 2025 and forms part of the Gauteng government’s broader efforts to improve access to healthcare.
Mazibuko said Gauteng could no longer rely solely on residents travelling to established healthcare facilities as the province’s population grows and new communities emerge.
“We know that Gauteng is changing. Communities are growing, new settlements are developing and people’s needs are changing with them. Our health services must also change and respond to these realities,” Mazibuko said.
“Our responsibility is not only to wait for people to come to our facilities. Where there are barriers, we must find ways to reach people.”
The investment is linked to G10 of Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s Gauteng 13 Problems (G13), which focuses on improving services at hospitals and clinics while expanding access to quality healthcare.
The mobile clinics are equipped with medical equipment, clinical examination tools, oxygen facilities, refrigeration units, generators and solar-powered support systems.
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They will provide health screening and early detection services, HIV and TB prevention and testing, linkage to care, services for women, children, and young people, hypertension and diabetes screening, health promotion and patient referrals.
The department said the mobile clinics would complement fixed health facilities, community health workers and existing outreach programmes.
District health teams will identify communities with the greatest need and establish schedules to inform residents where and when the mobile clinics will operate.
Mazibuko warned that taking healthcare services closer to communities would have limited impact if patients were not properly linked to further treatment when required.
“The mobile clinic may be the first point of contact, but it must never be a dead end. When a patient requires additional care, there must be a clear and reliable pathway into the appropriate health facility,” she said.
The department said it would monitor the mobile clinics to ensure they are maintained, staffed and equipped and deployed to communities where they are most needed.
Their impact will be measured through the number of residents reached, illnesses detected early and patients successfully linked to appropriate healthcare services.
