The main gate at Rob Ferreira hospital has been opened following a protest.
This follows after Nehawu closed the gate on Wednesday demanding the CEO’s suspension continue, the withdrawal of suspension letters handed to two members of Nehawu and the nurses’ home not be renovated at this point.
Health spokesman, Dumisani Malamule, says that the CEO is on precautionary suspension for the purposes of investigating allegations of misconduct.
“There is no plan to lift the suspension until the investigations reveal otherwise.”
The two Nehawu members are suspended with similar conditions.
ALSO READ:Angry protesters block main gate at Rob Ferreira Hospital
Lynette Mahamba, Nehawu’s regional treasurer in Ehlanzeni said that the nurse’s home should be renovated during the next financial year.
”The department does not want to take the money back to Treasury, so they gave the nurses short notice, telling them to leave. They do not have a place to go, and we feel that the department can use the money on other things, such as getting beds or building a laundry. We think they want to do a quick job and keep some of the funds,” she said.
The department says the decision to renovate the nurses’ home was taken after engineers reported the building was unsafe.
“The report was tabled in the presence of organised labour, and Nehawu agreed that the building be renovated,” said Malamule.
