Early yesterday morning 68-year-old Nomaledi Gidigidi made her way to join a long queue in front of a train. But it was no ordinary train, and her reason was not to travel anywhere. She was visiting the revised Phelophepa "Train of Hope", stationed at Mouth Ruth.
The NU12 Mdantsane resident was excited about her first visit to the train to have her eyes tested. "What they are doing is a good thing and here I can get help in all areas, with my eyes, my teeth, my arthritis and everything. "I'm looking forward to coming back again," she said.
Hundreds of Mdantsane residents queued outside the Mount Ruth train station to visit the second edition of the now 18 coach Phelophepa train.
Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba was a guest speaker at the launch of the train which is stationed in the area until the end of the week, and was responsible for unveiling Phelophepa II.
"What started off 18 years ago as a modest three-coach eye clinic has become an internationally well known beacon of hope," he said.
"The launch of Transnet Phelophepa II will allow us to reach communities that need it most and demonstrates how public-private sector partnerships can be used to transform lives of communities through social entrepreneurship."
Others at the launch included Transnet group chief executive Brian Molefe, chairman of the board of directors of Roche Dr Franz Humer, as well as Eastern Cape health MEC Sicelo Gqobana.
"Transnet and its partners have done a sterling job of breeding a network of support for this project … it's no coincidence that the Phelophepa is known as the train of hope because it brings so much hope to those who have no access to state health,"said Gqobana.
First started in 1994, the Phelophepa I train aimed to provide primary healthcare to communities and people who otherwise would be unable to access or afford health services, said Gigaba. It started off as a three- coach train, and yesterday saw the launch of Phelophepa II which provides primary healthcare, dental, optometry and psychological care to communities.
The R82-million project, engineered and built at Transnet rail engineering’s facility in Cape Town, is funded by Transnet as well as a number of stakeholders, including Swiss-based pharmaceutical company F Hoffman La Roche, Colgate-Palmolive South Africa, American and Swiss friends of Phelophepa, among others. The train now reaches an estimated 370000 individuals a year .
But it does more than just serve rural communities, the Phelophepa also provides employment to many. Each of the two trains has 20 permanent staff, 16 contracted security officials and takes in 40 final-year students every two weeks.
The train, which operates for nine months a year, also seeks to employ between 45 to 65 local people in each rural area it visits.
