Gauteng Health MEC disappointed that some health workers’ salaries have not been paid

Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku has reportedly expressed his disappointment at the news that some health workers in the province have not been paid their salaries.

EWN reports that the MEC blamed the delay in the payment of salaries on a human resources error.

It was reported that Masuku said the matter would be resolved and that the department is working towards ensuring that by Thursday at least the majority of those who had not been paid their salaries “will be sorted out”, with the rest paid by the beginning of next week.

“But it is disappointing that our officials dropped the ball when we are in this particular period,” the MEC was quoted as saying.

He said the failure to pay salaries would affect the morale of the health workers when it is needed the most in the wake of Covid-19.

“The treasury department and our department’s HR are working 24 hours to make sure that glitch is resolved.

“We do value very much the role that our healthcare workers are playing in carrying the health system,” Masuku said.

But Young Nurses Indaba Trade Union (YNITU) general secretary Rich Sicina told News24 that the issue was not new, adding that he hadn’t received overtime pay since February.

“What exactly is wrong, they can’t tell us,” he said.

“I worked overtime in November but was only paid in February… It was just for the first time that [the department] went so far as to write a letter.

“We thought maybe even our basic salary won’t come. We don’t know what is happening,” Sicina said.

He added that nurses’ overtime pay made a difference in their salaries.

“That is why nurses work so much overtime, because our basic salary is nothing,” he said.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit South Africa, Sicina said nurses were limited to working two overtime days a month.

During the lockdown, however, they are told that they can work as much overtime as they can, Sicina, who is also a nurse, said.

“Our first worry was to say how are you going to pay if you can’t pay us for the two days?”

Sicina added that concerns were raised about an overtime backlog and about how it would be paid out.

“If I go as far as working six days a month, how are you going to pay that overtime? Where is that money?

“The reason why [they] have limited overtime is because [they] are always saying there is no money. Now what happened? Where is that money to pay for this overtime,” Sicina asked.

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu. Additional reporting by News24 Wire.)

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