Johannesburg - Healthcare workers affiliated with the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) have vowed to intensify their strike action today.
Disruptions were reported in some Gauteng health facilities, and today the strike entered its fourth day without the union and government reaching amicable agreements.
The workers are rejecting the 4% offered by the government; they, and are demanding nothing less than 10%.
This morning, there were disruptions around areas where there are hospitals and clinics. In Johannesburg, traffic was affected in and around the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.
Nehawu Gauteng’s deputy provincial secretary, Mzilayise Tshontshi, said they would make sure that their strike did not negatively affect communities, but said their strike must serve to tell the government that ‘enough is enough’.
“We are intensifying our action. We are not expecting disruptions in health services, but our members will exercise their rights to strike. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that we will continue what we have been doing, but there is no way that we are going to negatively impact the communities that we serve," said Tshontshi.
There are reports that there were no doctors or nurses to assist patients at some hospitals.
Tshontshi said, according to their understanding, there were discussions at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital between the union and the management that resulted in the union agreeing to provide minimum services as the law requires them to do.
He said their members were asked to provide some services at some departments, which they did.
The Star reported that a two-year-old child died at Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, as workers embarked on the strike.
Acting Public Service and Administration Minister Thulas Nxesi said the ‘no work, no pay’ principle would apply.
Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said services at a number of facilities had been affected by the strike.
“We are experiencing a blockage of entrances, which means that ambulances are also not able to move in and out. In some other facilities, we’ve seen that there is a high degree of intimidation, with workers feeling that their environment is not conducive for them.
“We still continue to provide services to patients that are within our facilities, albeit we are constrained,” Modiba said.
He said there was no access to the entrance at Heidelberg, and Rahima Moosa remained closed, with patients being turned away.
With regard to the death of the child, the Gauteng Health Department acknowledged receiving the media query and asked for an extension to respond today.
The Star