Central SA
Free State Nehawu delivers on promise of continued strike─── TSHEHLA KOTELI 08:23 Wed, 08 Mar 2023
The National Education, Health, and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has delivered on its promise of continuing with the protests.
Tens of Nehawu members are gathered outside the National District Hospital in Bloemfontein, Free State, with the aim of getting the government to give in to their demands.
They have promised that there won’t be any disturbance in service delivery at the hospital. Patients and staff members who want to enter can do so. The Nehawu protestors barricade only one side of the main gate. The protesters do, however, promise they won’t stop with the strike until their cry is heard.
Nehawu‘s provincial secretary, Khauhelo Mnqibisa, said their demonstration is a result of the government’s collective bargaining. It is understood that the department offered a 4.7% salary increase, while unions are asking for between 10% and 12%.
ALSO READ: Patients helpless as Nehawu strike at Pelonomi escalates
Patients at the biggest hospital in the province, the Pelonomi Hospital, were lately left stranded due to the protests.
The protests have carried on despite the department’s court interdict. Nehawu, however, appealed that interdict. The Labour Court has since stuck to its decision to interdict any form of work stoppages and pickets by Nehawu and stated that its members will be tantamount to contempt of court if they continued the protests.
The department has since informed protesters that they will apply the ‘no work, no pay’ principle to those participating in the nationwide protests.
The spokesperson for the Free State Health Department, Mondli Mvambi, expressed concerns over disruptions caused by protesters at some facilities across the province, which also affected access to some of the major hospitals.
ALSO READ: Nehawu strike leaves health care facilities in dismantled state
The spokesperson for the National Department of Health, Foster Mohale, previously said at least six health facilities have been left in a bad state within the three different provinces. In the Free State, the hospitals are the Pelonomi Tertiary Hospital in Bloemfontein and the Mofumahadi Manapo Mopeli Hospital in Qwaqwa; in the North West, it is the Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp and the Moses Kotane Hospital in Rustenburg; and in the Northern Cape, the Kimberley and Upington Hospitals have also been affected.
