Keep cool heads, MEC urges strikers

Nehawu ‘sympathetic’ over baby’s death

GAUTENG social development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza has called on striking workers to see the death of an infant at their facilities as a sign that they must strive to maintain “cool heads”.

Six-month old Singalakha Sonamazi is the first casualty in the stalemate between the national Department of Social Development and social workers across the country.

Social workers under the National Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) went on strike last Monday over salaries. The strike has left child and youth care centres (CYCC) across the province functioning on less than skeleton staff, with social services’ professionals disputing the entry-level salary as stipulated in the policies of the department.

Mayathula-Khoza said social services’ employees have declared a dispute at the national Bargaining Council, and therefore the department cannot intervene directly to solve the issue.

“The occupation specific dispensation is in the purview of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) and as such, it’s amendment or review can only be done by the DPSA.

“All these matters are under discussion in the Bargaining Council. We hope that those involved in these engagements will find solutions soon,” Mayathula-Khoza said.

She added that as MEC she was willing to defend the rights of workers to protest, but would not do so if they endangered the lives of vulnerable children, the elderly and the disabled.

Singalakha, who died on the morning of Human Rights Day, was born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and stayed at the Walter Sisulu Child and Youth Care Centre after she and her three siblings aged eight, six and five were removed from their family home in Tambo Section, Bekkersdal, pending the finalisation of a Westonaria Children’s Court inquiry.

Mayathula-Khoza said the cause of the baby’s death was still unknown, but the department would be putting in place measures to prevent further deaths from occurring at CYCCs due to under-staffing because of the strike.

Contingency measures would include potentially calling members of the SANDF to take over posts in the interim.

She added that Singalakha’s family had been notified of her death and that the department would be conducting a needs’ assessment on the family to see how best to help them with the child’s burial.

The scenes the department found while visiting the CYCCs last week of hungry, visibly distraught children and the distraught remaining staff members led to the department taking additional measures, according to the head of department, Shoki Tshabalala.

She added that there was also a court order in place that listed conditions that workers would protest under.

“We have also liaised with licensed NGOs that are managing child and youth care centres to enlist their assistance in the care and protection of the children.

“This will allow us to decant our institutions in order for the few officials on the ground to handle a smaller number of children in these centres,” Tshabalala said.

Nehawu Joburg regional deputy chairperson Benjamin Mogoye said workers were sympathetic about Singalakha, but blamed the department for the death. “We warned them not to move the children,” he said.

Speaking at a picket outside Premier David Makhura’s office, Mogoye added that Nehawu was a caring union and social services’ employees would not endanger people.

“We are still allowing them free access to the centres. We allowed nurses to go give medicines and we allowed caterers to cater.

“We are professionals, we will never have a situation where we will compromise our people,” he said.

We will not compromise our people