Community protest at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital over unfulfilled job promises

The entrance of Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Jabulani, Soweto, south of Johannesburg, was blocked by burning debris on Tuesday morning as a result of a community volunteer protest outside the hospital gates over allegedly unfulfilled promises.

The protesters were allegedly community members who claimed that there had been a history of corruption and nepotism within the hospital when it came to jobs.

Unfulfilled promises

The community volunteers, according to the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH), told Newzroom Afrika that in many cases, the local community is not given the opportunity to be employed at the hospital for various jobs.

“Today the community is protesting, and the reason being that some of the community members were brought to Bheki Mlangeni Hospital to come and work on the basis that they were going to be employed,” said one of the community members.

Another protester said they were promised permanent positions.

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“We were promised that we’d get salaries and we’d be able to buy ourselves cars and houses,” she said.

The protesters claimed that they were brought by the local ward councillor, Dumisani Modladlaba. Modladlaba, however, disputed the allegations of nepotism and corruption and said the volunteers were never promised permanent positions.

Protest cleared

The protest eventually ended by Thursday afternoon, with the GDoH assuring the public that the action had been taken.

“The protest briefly affected movement and smooth access to the hospital; however, the provision of healthcare services was not disrupted. Police were called to the scene to monitor the situation and have since restored calm,” the department spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba, said in a statement.

Modiba added that representatives from the department met with the volunteers who had an arrangement with Modladlaba, who allegedly introduced them to the hospital, to hear their grievances, including allegations regarding unfulfilled promises.

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“Following a constructive engagement with the protestors, the GDoH has committed to investigating the matter and addressing all allegations raised,” the department said.