Torched Bronkhorstspruit clinic will not be rebuilt

A clinic that was torched during a service delivery protest in Bronkhorstspruit, east of Pretoria, will not be rebuilt, according to media reports.

"My department will not be rebuilding the clinic or any other public health facility destroyed by...thugs. We will take our budget to other regions where it is needed," Gauteng health MEC Hope Papo was quoted as saying, reports the Star newspaper.

"The people who burnt down the R3 million clinic were thugs and criminals..."

Last month, protesters set alight seven buildings in Bronkhorstspruit including the clinic, a library, a hall and a house.

They were protesting over a prepaid electricity system.