PHUTI MOSOMANE
VIDEOS and pictures of striking Nehawu workers burning tyres, preventing doctors and patients went viral on Wednesday.
Members affiliated to the union were seen running amok, wreaking havoc and causing patients to panic across many hospitals and clinics in the country.
There were chaotic scenes outside Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, as hospital management clashed with health workers affiliated to Nehawu.
Workers said they are not going to back down from their demand for a 10% increase. They also want a housing subsidy hike from R1900 to R2500.
The DA in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has called for strong action to be taken against striking NEHAWU workers as protest action enters day three despite a court interdict to prevent it.
“The DA condemns this strike in the strongest possible terms. Burning tyres in front of hospital gates to prevent access is a callous act that carries high risks for citizens and inpatients. Demands for a 10% wage increase should never put the lives of vulnerable citizens in jeopardy,” DA KZN Spokesperson on Health Edwin Baptie said.
Baptie said health professionals are classified as “essential service employees” for good reason:”Denying them their right to work through fear of intimidation cannot be discounted as a strategy in this strike action.”
The unhappiness and frustration was visible on the faces of many staff locked outside Greys Hospital in KZN on Wednesday morning and tells a story of coercion rather than willing participation.
The conduct on display also overshadows the basis of the strike action as a genuine cry for a wage increase.
This kind of lawlessness needs to be met with a firm response from the SAPS, Municipal law enforcement, and Fire services, none of whom were on the ground when fires were lit outside Greys Hospital in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Doctors, health workers, and patients are not being allowed into Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg by workers affiliated to NEHAWU.
In Gauteng, police deployed to several hospitals to prevent disruptions from Nehawu protests outside Tembisa hospital.
Health workers protested outside Tembisa Hospital and vowed to disrupt operations at the hospital until the government offers them a 10% wage increase.
Nehawu regional chairperson Wanda Pendu told workers outside the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital to continue protesting over wage increase until their demands are met.
In the Western Cape, a handful of striking Nehawu members moved between Khayelitsha hospital and Home Affairs offices to disrupt operations.
On Wednesday, a Nehawu member was arrested when allegedly tried to disrupt operations at Khayelitsha hospital and appeared at Khayelitsha magistrate court on Wednesday.
Some workers entered inside the building of Michael Mapongwana clinic in Khayelitsha disrupting operations at the clinic.
INSIDE POLITICS
