Drakenstein Palliative Hospice

Project Details:

Beneficiary: Drakenstein Palliative Hospice Paarl
Project Value: R301,492 ex VAT
Date of Completion: May 2025

Summary:

Exterior Enhancements: Repainting of external walls and a historical architrave to enhance the building’s appearance and preserve its architectural character.
Interior Refresh: Repainting of internal walls and ceilings to create a more welcoming and comfortable environment for patients and staff.
Structural Maintenance: Repair of gutters to improve water drainage and safeguard the integrity of the building.

Drakenstein Palliative Hospice was founded in May 1991 by a group of compassionate volunteers in order to meet the growing need for professional palliative care in the Drakenstein district.

The non-profit organization employs Palliative Care trained professional nurses, social workers and caregivers, who provide compassionate professional clinical care and support to patients living with life-threatening illnesses. The dedicated team assist patients with access to active symptom management and medication control, and support and guide them through end-of-life care concerns, helping to keep both the patient and family peaceful. They also provide training and development of palliative care practices.

Their work is deeply rooted in the local community, with staff and volunteers committed to making a meaningful difference, which is why Drakenstein Hospice has become a cornerstone of support for individuals facing life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses, offering care that emphasizes quality of life, and dignity in death.

What They Do

Provide free holistic palliative care to over 220–250 patients monthly, including medical, psycho-social, and spiritual support.
Employ a team of trained nurses, social workers, and caregivers, supported by a part-time palliative doctor.
Offer home-based care, enabling patients to remain in familiar surroundings with professional support.
Respect cultural and spiritual preferences, ensuring care is personalized and compassionate.
Celebrated 30 years of service in 2021, marking three decades of dedication to the Paarl and greater Drakenstein area
This free service provides access to the specialized skills of their interdisciplinary team who focus on:
- - Professionally managing symptoms associated with a severe life-threatening and life-limiting illness
  - Developing an individual care plan and allocation of staff and resources to achieve the plan
  - Revising the plan together with the patient and their family, adapting it as needs and circumstances change
  - Assisting with some hygiene needs within home-based care scenarios
  - Working together with the family, providing specialized expertise and support to maximize the patient’s quality of life and dignity in death

“Ek het geen idee hoe ons vir julle gaan kan dankie genoeg sê vir die ongelooflike groot werk wat julle vir ons doen nie. Julle span wat hier by ons werk is absoluut ongelooflik. Julle werkers se optrede, manier van praat en kommunikeer met ons personeel, hulp wat hulle aanbied en mee help, wat sommiges verseker nie binne julle raamwerk val nie! Alles met ‘n glimlag en bereidwilligheid wat die hele personeel aan die praat het. Hulle werk netjies, maak skoon, is stiptelik en baie betroubaar. Ons is regtig eindeloos beïndruk en verskriklik dankbaar.”

Christabel Vosloo

Public Relations and Marketing, Drakenstein Palliative Hospice

The Challenge

Non-profit organisations providing palliative care, like Drakenstein Hospice, play an essential yet often understated role in South Africa’s healthcare landscape. These organisations walk alongside individuals and families during some of life’s most vulnerable moments, offering not only medical support, but also emotional, spiritual, and psychosocial care. Working primarily in under-resourced communities, they bring dignity and comfort to patients with life-limiting illnesses—often filling critical gaps where formal healthcare systems fall short.

The Drakenstein Hospice team uphold the same values that our Isipani Construction teams live daily, including Integrity, Innovation, Teamwork, People Growth, Ownership and Passion. Despite operating with limited resources, the staff and volunteers give deeply of themselves—travelling long distances to reach patients, providing home-based care, and supporting patients and their loved ones through incredibly difficult transitions.

Their work is grounded in compassion, but the environment they work in matters too. It was important for the Isipani Foundation to provide Drakenstein Hospice team and their patients with a safe, clean, warm, and welcoming space can make all the difference. We focused our efforts on exterior enhancements, repainting external walls and a historical architrave to enhance the building’s appearance and preserve its architectural character. We also undertook an Interior Refresh, repainting internal walls and ceilings to create a more welcoming and comfortable environment for patients and staff, and performed structural maintenance, repairing gutters to improve water drainage and to safeguard the integrity of the building.

Drakenstein Hospice’s beauty lies in its humanity: simple, thoughtful touches that uphold the dignity of every person who walks through its doors. For patients, we hope it is a place of peace and presence rather than fear or isolation. For caregivers, that it is a space that reflects the respect and tenderness they offer daily.

The photos that follow reflect this quiet transformation — where care is not only felt, but seen.