Dis-Chem and Cipla Foundation Open Macassar Nurse Clinic

In Short

Dis-Chem Better Tomorrow and the Cipla Foundation have partnered to launch a Sha’p Left nurse clinic in Macassar, Western Cape. The goal is to bring affordable primary healthcare closer to residents and reduce pressure on public facilities.

What Happened

The new clinic was launched on October 9, 2026, in Macassar, a community of about 52,400 people across roughly 14,000 households.

Dis-Chem said the project sits under its Better Tomorrow programme, which focuses on primary and preventative healthcare. The Cipla Foundation is running the Sha’p Left model, which supports nurses to open community clinics.

The clinic is led by clinical nurse practitioner Patricia-Ann Smith. It operates as a fee-for-service practice, meaning patients pay for consultations and services instead of the clinic being funded as a free public facility.

A key operational detail is licensing. The clinic is licensed to dispense medication up to Schedule 4, which covers many prescription-only medicines in South Africa. That allows patients to be assessed, diagnosed, and receive treatment in one visit, instead of being referred elsewhere for medicines.

Services are expected to support care for chronic and infectious conditions such as HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes, and hypertension.

Why It Matters

For many working-class communities, “access to care” is not only about having a clinic in the region. It is also about transport costs, time off work, and long queues at overstretched public health centres.

Nurse-led primary healthcare clinics can help handle routine cases earlier, which can reduce avoidable hospital visits later. They also create a small business pathway for experienced nurses, sometimes called nursepreneurs, through training and operational support.

For Dis-Chem and the Cipla Foundation, the Macassar site also works as a real-world test of whether the Sha’p Left model can stay financially sustainable without ongoing donor funding, while still keeping pricing affordable for patients.