City health facilities under pressure
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday March 18, 2026 06:00
Addressing a full council meeting on Monday, Gaborone Mayor Oarabile Motlaleng stated that the facility currently caters not only for residents of Gaborone but also to patients from neighbouring districts such as Mogoditshane-Thamaga and Tlokweng. As a result, the increased demand has placed a heavy burden on the laboratory’s operations.
Motlaleng explained that the situation has largely been caused by capacity challenges at surrounding health facilities. In particular, the Tlokweng laboratory is unable to conduct certain diagnostic tests, forcing many patients to seek services at the Julia Molefhe Clinic. At the same time, the Mogoditshane–Thamaga–Lesirane laboratory is not yet operational.
Consequently, most of the laboratory work from these areas has been redirected to the Julia Molefhe facility, significantly increasing its workload.
“This situation has placed an unsustainable burden on the Julia Molefhe Clinic laboratory,” said Motlaleng. “There is therefore an urgent need to strengthen staffing at the laboratory to maintain service standards, safeguard staff wellbeing and ensure the continued provision of quality diagnostic services to our growing population.”
He emphasised that improving staffing levels would not only reduce pressure on existing personnel but would also help the council maintain efficient healthcare service delivery. Moreover, adequate staffing would ensure that patients continue to receive timely and reliable diagnostic services.
Meanwhile, the mayor also raised concerns about challenges affecting dental services in the city. He noted that the non-operational status of the Lesirane Dental Clinic has led to a significant increase in the number of patients seeking services at the Julia Molefhe dental department. As a result, the department is now struggling to cope with the rising demand for dental care.
Furthermore, Motlaleng explained that some essential dental services are currently unavailable due to equipment challenges. In particular, he said procedures such as restorations, commonly known as fillings, and scaling, which involves professional dental cleaning, cannot be provided at the moment.
According to the mayor, the main challenge is that the dental units are not operational.
In addition, he said the dental chair requires maintenance as well as the procurement of essential accessories in order to restore full functionality. Until these issues are resolved, he said the clinic will continue to face limitations in delivering a full range of dental services to patients.
Despite these setbacks, Motlaleng assured councillors that the council remains committed to strengthening healthcare services across the city. “The dental chair also requires maintenance and accessories to restore full functionality. Despite these challenges, we remain committed to delivering resilient, responsive and high-quality healthcare services to the people of Gaborone,” he said. At the same time, the mayor highlighted another major concern affecting the city’s healthcare facilities, which is the declining availability of medicines. According to Motlaleng, the availability of medicines has dropped significantly from 67% to 53.3%. This figure falls far below the council’s target of 97%, raising concerns about the ability of health facilities to meet the needs of patients.
He cautioned that shortages of essential medicines could negatively affect service delivery if the situation is not addressed promptly. Therefore, Motlaleng said there is a need for urgent interventions to improve medicine supply and ensure that health facilities remain adequately stocked. Ensuring the consistent availability of medicines, he added, is critical for maintaining quality healthcare services and protecting the well-being of residents.
Overall, the mayor stressed that while the council continues to face operational challenges within its health facilities, efforts are ongoing to address the problems and strengthen service delivery. He added that improving infrastructure, staffing and equipment will be essential in ensuring that residents continue to access reliable and efficient healthcare services.