Hospital management negligent ‘ ’
He said the post office was waiting for the money to be loaded onto the system.
The post office cannot
“handle this job, there are too many EPWP workers.
We cannot stand in line for “more than three hours without anyone tending to us.
We have policies which
“can lapse because our payments are never on time.
In previous years the dates
“were the 12th and the 15th. The system worked well.
There are too many of us to “queue. We have bank accounts and the money must be transferred to them.”
Xolani Dyongo, from Cacadu, said he had already spent R160 on transport in the two days he spent in the long queues.
Dyongo said: Today I came
“at 6.30am to collect my R350. I was here on Saturday, but “there was a power outage and I could not be helped.”
However, he said there was no certainty he would receive his money on the second day and he only had to hope.
Noluvuyo Xhosa, from Ilinge, said she had been trying to open an account for three weeks.
The post office s regional
’ manager, Nombulelo Ngubane, had not replied to questions by the time of going to print.
The Matthew Goniwe regional National Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), has
’ said the Komani Psychiatric Hospital was not ready to deal with Covid-19 patients because of the institution s negligent
’“” management.
The union members spoke to The Rep to air their frustrations about their failed attempts to resolve staff grievances with the institution management and the department of health.
Last Wednesday, the hospital staff picketed at the health facility premises, demanding that management prioritise their safety concerns which include the provision of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), and the quarantining of staff who had been in contact with Covid-19 patients, among others.
Nehawu regional secretary Mvuyisi Siko said they had attended a meeting with a delegation from the provincial department and the hospital management where its unbecoming behaviour was
“” noted on July 24.
The meeting acknowledged “management s unbecoming
’ behaviour in front of the officials of the provincial health department. We made it clear that they had failed to deal with the occupation health and safety standards that put the lives of workers at risk. We informed the delegation “that this occurred because protocols to ensure their safety were deliberately flouted by management.”
Siko said management s
’ failure to ensure workers who had been in contact with Covid19 positive people did not risk the lives of the hospital s
’ patients.
The employers refused to
“allow contacts of positive people to go into quarantine on numerous occasions. They even went as far as instructing workers to work when they were supposed to be in quarantine. The employer refuses to test employees
— even those with symptoms
— and claims they are faking symptoms. This is standard practice that continued after the visit by provincial officials.”
At the meeting, management was reported to have marched out of the meeting in retaliation, and was not called out for it by the provincial delegation.
Workers had since received a communique from provincial health superintendent general (SG) Dr Thobile Mbengashe, informing them about what constituted a strike, and what the employer was to do in the case of unprotected strike action by the workforce.
We have noted the
“ultimatum issued by the department to workers at the hospital. We want to make it clear that workers are not on strike. It is surprising that the office of the SG chooses to view the impasse at the institution in such a manner by threatening staff, instead of addressing their issues,” said Siko.
The union said they were still open to talks that would lead to the resolution of their problems before more staff members were infected by the virus.