Essential but unpaid

Health workers struggle to make ends meet as department fails to cough up their cash

Contract Covid-19 workers who put their lives on the line and have either been not paid, shortchanged or compensated for overtime, are asking: “What about us now?”

Some are waiting for the sheriff of the court to knock on their doors as their debts pile up.

Others have walked away to find a job elsewhere as they no longer trust the Eastern Cape health department to pay up.

The department went on a hiring spree early last year, resulting in hundreds of doctors, nurses, Cuban professionals and community helpers joining the ranks of front-line workers.

Contracts were signed in February, with the health-care workers hired for one year, from April 1 to March 31.

Some doctors were hired through sessional contracts, allowing them to work 80 hours a month, but ended up working more hours because of the demand for their services.

The contracted Covid-19 workers were dispatched to various hospitals — with much jubilation from the health department — where they battled Covid-19.

Some died from Covid-19 complications.

The Nelson Mandela Bay health district contracted 1,095 workers in various positions.

However, health department spokesperson Siyanda Manana said there were no contracted health-care workers that had not been paid.

This, he said, did not include the Cuban doctors and those contracted by the Livingstone and Dora Nginza Hospitals.

“Otherwise, there are no employees with outstanding salary payments.”

He said the department was only informed on Friday that there were issues with overtime allowances.

“We have requested details of those claiming that they were not paid in order to verify such claims. The field hospital’s management will provide such details on Monday.”

The department’s acting superintendent-general, Dr Sibongile Zungu, wrote to her subordinates on February 12 informing them there was no money available to absorb any of the contract workers.

She said the funding for the contract workers and sessional doctors had been secured from a disaster grant equitable share allocation related to Covid-19.

“It must [be] noted that there is no provision of carrythrough costs for the funding of Covid-19 contract appointments, and it is for this reason that the contracts are set to expire on March 31.”

She said the department would have preferred to hire the contract workers, but budget cuts and medico-legal claims had exhausted any funds that could have been available in the next financial year.

“The department is not in a position to commit to Covid-19 contract appointments beyond March 31.”

Nehawu provincial secretary Miki Jaceni said the union would fight for the health department contract workers to be absorbed.

Jaceni said they would meet the department in the next few days to discuss the matter.

Jaceni said he was unaware of contract workers going un