Durban - Some former Covid-19 staff in KwaZulu-Natal are crying foul after their contracts were not renewed on December 31, claiming that they were given an undertaking that they would be absorbed into the Department of Health.
The 58 workers claim that others who were doing a similar job at the height of Covid-19 were absorbed by the department as per a circular issued in the middle of last year, and yet they were left out.
The former staff members, asking not to be named because they feared that they may be victimised, produced contracts which showed that they were employed in December 2021 and assigned to different government hospitals in the province.
The workers were dispatched to the hospitals via a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Right to Care.
“Although we were employed as data capturers, we ended up doing more than that, risking our lives when Covid-19 was feared by everyone.
“Sometimes we would not be paid on time and only got paid after complaining, despite that, we soldiered on.
“Then there was a circular which said all Covid-19 staff will be absorbed by the department and we hoped that included us.
“Later we learnt that those who were working with us have already been absorbed and we were left out,” one of the former staff members told IOL.
She added they got the shock of their lives at the end of 2022 when their contracts were not renewed.
“Our contracts ended in December and they were never renewed. When we asked whether we will still have jobs or not, we were ignored.
“We even wrote to the office of the KZN MEC for Health, Nomagugu Simelane and her HoD and no one bothered to respond to us.
“It was only last week that we were told that Nomagugu told a meeting in Durban that she has nothing to do with us, we belong to Right to Care,” the former staff member said.
Repeated attempts to get Simelane’s comment on this matter failed. An enquiry sent to them a week ago was not answered.
One former employee claimed that they have not received their U19 forms so that they could claim their UIF benefits.
She claimed that they have been sent from pillar to post.
“We said, okay, then give us these forms so that we can apply for our UIF benefits and they are not giving them to us.
“Our emails are ignored and we feel so frustrated by this because our lives have come to a complete standstill,” said the ex-employee.
Dr Seithati Molefi from Right to Care in KwaZulu-Natal refuted claims that they were promised absorption by the Department of Health.
“Following enquiry, we established that the staff members in question are the former DatCov Data Capturers who were placed at various institutions to capture Covid-19-related patient data.
“I believe that it is important to state that this was a national project and not only implemented in KZN.
“This project was funded by donors and the agreements were based on the funding period.
“As such, the contracts that were entered into with the team were specific as to the end dates and as far as we are aware, there was no commitment or promise that they will be absorbed,” Molefi said in response to the claims.
Molefi said they will investigate the issue of UIF forms and respond later.
“I have referred this enquiry to our HR department. They are busy working on it and will revert with a response. I will update as soon as I receive it,” Molefi said.
UIF communications officer, Lungelo Mkamba said employers refusing to hand UIF forms should be reported to their labour centres.
"If the employer is refusing to hand over the UIF forms, as alleged by the workers, we strongly advise them to visit their nearest labour centre and report the matter to one of our inspectors for investigation," Mkamba said.