Hospital workers stage sit-in
MORE than 50 workers at Kimberley Hospital staged a sit-in at the complex yesterday and vowed not to return to their posts until the Northern Cape Department of Health instituted disciplinary action against a deputy director, who they accused of assaulting workers and “running the department like it belongs to him”.
Pharmacists, cleaners, porters and general administrative staff were among the group staging the sit-in yesterday, calling for the “immediate dismissal” of the deputy director, who allegedly held telephone operators “hostage” on Tuesday by locking them in the operation room for almost an hour.
He apparently locked another worker out of his station and then allegedly assaulted Godfrey Davids, the provincial nurses co-ordinator and shop steward for Nehawu.
Workers threatened that they would stage a full-blown strike, which would also include doctors and nurses, who are “sick of him (the deputy director) and his bullying”, if their concerns were not addressed.
Davids said yesterday that he was assaulted by the deputy director on Monday after trying to intervene in the “hostage situation” following the locking out of employees.
“I went to his (the deputy director) office to request him to open the workstations, as it was unlawful to deny workers access to their stations. He, however, refused and threatened me with police and security guards. He then pushed me and I fell onto a chair. While I was getting up he slapped me. When I asked him why he had hit me, he denied ever putting a hand on me, even though the incident happened in front of several witnesses,” Davids stated yesterday.
Davids has opened a case with the police.
He added that this was not the first time the deputy director had assaulted hospital employees. “He was previously suspended for assaulting a female security guard and there have been other incidents.”
Davids further said that workers were “sick” of the deputy director.
“He is a bully who thinks he is the HOD of the Department of Health. He goes around hiring and firing workers as he pleases, while this is not even in his job description. He has become a danger to workers.”
The acting CEO of Kimberley Hospital, Richard Jones, addressed the group of workers but ordered members of the media to leave the room and insisted that “all doors be closed” before agreeing to talk to the workers.
Northern Cape Department of Health spokesperson, Lulu Mxekezo, remained tight-lipped about the situation and only responded to several questions regarding the workers’ allegations against the deputy director, by saying that “the Northern Cape Department of Health is still awaiting the full report of the alleged incident at Kimberley Hospital on Monday”. She added that the matter would be dealt with upon receipt of the formal complaint.
Following further media enquiries on whether any action would be taken against the deputy director and what measures would be put in place to prevent a full-blown strike, Mxekezo responded by saying: “You have got your response, I can knock off now.”
Meanwhile, the workers indicated late yesterday afternoon that they would continue the sit-in today.