Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Housing initiative gives health-care workers peace of mind
LIVING safely away from family while on the frontline of a pandemic. That is the experience of nurse Melissa Mandes.
Mandes is one of 83 health-care workers across South Africa being accommodated by Ubuntu Beds, an initiative which aims to offer accommodation to those on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For me as a health-care worker, the chances of getting something like this at home was quite devastating just thinking about it, or even the possibility thereof, as I sensed back then it could reach that point.”
Ubuntu Beds set Mandes up in a venue near her place of work, a health facility in the CBD. It allowed Mandes to live safely away from her family, which included her husband, son, mother and mother-in-law, as well as reside closer to her place, saving transport costs.
“Everyone was asking me, ‘Why are you signing up? Why don’t you want to go home?’ We need to protect our families.”
The nurse said finding out about the initiative and signing up was easy.
“Even before the disaster hit, I was on Google researching and keeping updated with what was happening with the disaster going from epidemic to pandemic,” she said.
“I came across this where they provide health-care workers with accommodation, which was perfect for me as I had concerns. I knew that, eventually, it would be a problem. So I clicked on the link and followed the process.”
That process turned out to be a very pleasant one for Mandes.
“The experience was amazing,”
Mandes said. “I was immediately put in contact with the person running the accommodation. He contacted me and asked me which day I would like to check in. I came in and they knew exactly who I was and explained to me how things work and then helped me set up in my room.”
Mandes did not have to make any payments for the accommodation, with Ubuntu Beds footing the bill.
“My concern was when they sent me the email, they asked if I have any questions and I asked about the rates and what is the cost involved, and they said you don’t have to pay anything,” she said. “Obviously, this sounded too good to be true. But it was completely free.”
The accommodation even offered additional amenities. “It was a selfcatering place that they provided me with, which had everything and more than I needed. It had a washing machine which was great because, coming home, you need to wash your uniform with hot water.”
According to Ubuntu Beds founder, Kim Whitaker, the initiative allows health-care workers to be placed in available accommodation without the red tape of dealing with hospitals.
“The first hurdle I encountered was that hospital managers liked the idea, they thought it would be useful, but they were so busy with other issues such as PPE procurement, it seemed quite far removed,” Whitaker said.
As of this week, Ubuntu Beds had 893 accommodation venues sign up for the initiative. The number accounts for around 15 000 available beds.
According to Whitaker, nearly half of the accommodation was provided by B&Bs and guest-houses while around a quarter came from self-catering apartments. Each of the venues are subjected to a health-andsafety screening process and must meet standards set by Ubuntu Beds.
“We have an on-boarding process for accommodation,” Whitaker explained. “It takes a long time.
First, we check that all their legal documents are in order. We make sure they have the right permits, the right paperwork, etc. Currently, we are dispersing the TBCSA (Tourism Business Council of South Africa) guidelines for accommodation, as well as those from the Department of Health.”
Whitaker said that they were now pushing for more funding to place workers in them.
“Our next big drive is to push individual contributions and corporate donations to place more health-care workers,” she said. “Even though accommodation is heavily discounted, we still need to pay for it.”