Peter Miles, elected public governor for the hospital, criticised the closure and said it may not be too late for the government to step in.

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Its Old Fort is a former prison that operated from pre-Boer War times in the late 19th Century and throughout the apartheid era until its closure in 1987.

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"If the council agrees on closure we would expect Greenwood to close first, probably by late November, " Mr Rich said.

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