ISDS Site: Kgalagadi District

The Kgalagadi District Municipality is one of the 13 rural nodes identified for development in South Africa and falls within the jurisdiction of the Northern Cape province. The district is a cross boundary district and shares its northern side with Kudumane district in the North West province . The district is 98% rural, comprising of one district municipal area and three B-municipalities, namely Gamagara , Moshaweng and Ga-Segonyana.

The area is semi-desert. The mining and agriculture sectors provide some employment but the socio economic profile of the district indicates a 42% unemployment rate, leaving 30% of households with no income. The infrastructure, especially in the Moshaweng municipal area is poor, with a high number of households who are without toilet facilities. The roads are in a very bad condition. According to the 2001 population census 176 909 people live in the Kgalagadi district, half of which reside in the Moshaweng municipal area. The district covers 23 616 square km and has a population density of 7.5 people per square km.

There are two hospitals, one community health clinic (CHC), 32 fixed clinics and four mobile clinics that provide primary health care services. The PHC and hospital services are rendered by the provincial Department of Health of the Northern Cape Province and the Provincial Department of Health of the North West Province separately and independently within their respective areas of jurisdiction.

A shortage of doctors in some areas and a shortage of professional nurses in all areas is a major problem affecting the accessibility to health services and the quality of care in the clinics. The main health problems are TB, HIV/AIDS, STI's and malnutrition.

ISDS interventions in Kgalagadi cross boundary district include

• providing support to the establishment and functioning of management structures and functional integration
• providing assistance with the DHER, PHC audit and the Client Satisfaction survey,
• providing assistance in strengthening the clinic supervisor system and the district health plan
• supporting the interventions around quality of care in the priority health programmes (TB STI's and HIV/AIDS).