We, the residents of Orlando East and surrounding areas, are calling on the Gauteng Department of Health to upgrade Orlando East Clinic into a 24-hour facility with an overnight emergency room.

Our community is grieving after a heartbreaking tragedy at Orlando East Clinic, where a young lady lost her 2-year-old child. That loss has shaken many of us, and it has also exposed a serious gap in healthcare access that cannot be ignored. When a medical emergency happens at night, a clinic that closes after limited day hours leaves families with nowhere nearby to turn.

This affects ordinary people in a very real way. Many families cannot afford private transport or taxis late at night. Ambulances are often delayed or do not arrive in time. The nearest 24-hour facilities, including Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and Lilian Ngoyi CHC, are too far away when someone is facing a sudden crisis and has no resources to travel.

We are not attacking the clinic or its hardworking staff. We appreciate the care they give within the limits they face. But the reality is painful: a clinic in our own neighbourhood cannot help our people when it is dark, and lives are put at risk because of it.

We therefore ask management and provincial authorities to make Orlando East Clinic a 24-hour facility. We want proper overnight access, emergency care, and a system that meets the needs of the community it serves.

Every signature on this petition says that Orlando East and all surrounding areas deserve timely care, dignity, and a fair chance to live.