Durban - Health care worker unions and their members in Gauteng have taken to the streets to march against the state of affairs that state employees in the sector experience and will be handing over a memorandum of demands to the provincial health department.
Among those involved are the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).
The march is taking place in the Braamfontein area, in central Johannesburg.
#COSATU Gauteng supports the demands of healthcare workers in the province @GautengHealth @DENOSAORG @POWER987News @Powerfm987 @_cosatu pic.twitter.com/stoCjvIoVK
— @COSATU Today (@_cosatu) July 20, 2022
Some of the issues Denosa raised were a lack of staff at hospitals and the non-payment of post-community service nurses and the current cohort of community service nurses.
Denosa Gauteng provincial chairperson, Simphiwe Gada told IOL that they also want more investment into nursing education, as the recent pandemic has forced staff to reach outside the usual scope of work.
“The conduct of the Gauteng Department of Health seems to be ignoring these warnings in that you continue not investing in nursing jobs by retrenching for the past four to five years nurses that you have produced using public funds. Our interventions have assisted you from making these fatal mistakes which could result in a disaster for the healthcare system in this province and for the citizens of Gauteng.
“The disruptions in nursing education and the low intake of nursing students are leading to a disaster in dealing with the issue of nurse shortages, in particular specialist nurses. The continued challenges in education poses a challenge and are impacting supply and development of the nursing workforce,” the Denosa memorandum said.
#COSATU Gauteng supports the demands of healthcare workers in the province @GautengHealth @_cosatu #DenosaMarch2022 #DenosaMarch2022 #DenosaMarch2022 #DenosaMarch2022 pic.twitter.com/Ve4nmeccAV
— @COSATU Today (@_cosatu) July 20, 2022
Among the demands made by Denosa include an immediate payment of outstanding salaries for nurses, both community and post-community service.
Denosa also wants a comprehensive plan for filling all vacant funded posts and upkeep of ageing health care infrastructure.
Cosatu said it supported the demands made by health care workers in Gauteng.
Hundreds of protesters were seen gathered outside the Cosatu house in Braamfontein.
IOL got in touch with the health department in Gauteng to obtain their views on the protest and what action they will take following the demands set forth by the unions and is awaiting their response.
IOL