Thelle Mogoerane Hospital’s services disrupted by unprotected strike
Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Vosloorus has reassured the community that their relatives and loved ones are being well taken care of.
This comes after the strike by the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) members in the early hours of Friday morning, June 1.
Work was interrupted at the hospital on the day and some of the departments were affected.
According to the hospital’s media and public relations officer, Philani Mhlungu, Nehawu members embarked on an unprotected strike.
“They evicted staff members in some of the hospital departments. The affected departments were the Out Patient Department (OPD), Family Medicine, Accident and Emergency, and Pharmacy,” said Mhlungu.
He said the members went on strike because they were not paid their performance bonuses for this financial year.
“They became frustrated and as a result, they decided to go on strike,” said Mhlungu.
He added: “The Head Office Labour Relations Directorate (HOLRD) and hospital management engaged Nehawu to find a solution and it was agreed that the bonuses will be paid. Eventually, staff members that were evicted returned to their respective workstations,” said Mhlungu.
A Nehawu official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in addition to the issue of performance bonuses, the hospital had ignored other employee complaints since last year.
“That is why we decided to embark on the strike,” said the source. “We have complained about the workload on some of the employees because the hospital is understaffed. If they decide to employ new staff, they only employ incompetent people who are related to the staff management. Those incompetent people made mistakes that cost the lives of innocent people. That is why the hospital came under media scrutiny last year,” the source told Kathorus MAIL. “It looks as if the management is turning a deaf ear to all that we are complaining about,” the source added.
“It is true that the Gauteng Department of Health engaged Nehawu members and came up with solutions when it comes to the issue of performance bonuses that were owed to Nehawu. The department presented a concrete offer to the multilateral meeting which convened on June 5. The offer was presented as follow: employees who got a rating of four will receive R7 418.34 while those who got a rating of five will get R10 231.82,” added the source
Mhlungu said there is no reason for the public to panic.
“We regret the inconvenience caused to the community by the interruption which took place earlier on June 1 and wish to reassure the public that the situation is back to normal,” said Mhlungu.
