KZN mortuary workers threaten to shut down forensic services

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) have threatened to shut down all the forensic pathology service facilities in the province if the Department of Health does not act on their demands.

On Monday, members of these unions at forensic pathology service facilities across the province, including Fort Napier, picketed outside the Natalia Building in Pietermaritzburg, where they submitted their memorandum of demands.

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Their list of demands includes the immediate filling of all funded vacant posts, immediate implementation of the sustainable model for professionalisation of forensic pathology services, an immediate end to salary disparities within the forensic directorate, and compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act — by fixing the broken coldrooms where corpses are kept and by ensuring air-conditioners are working properly.

Mazwi Ngubane, Nehawu secretary in the Harry Gwala Region, told The Witness that they are tired of the KZN Department of Health ignoring their issues. He said the issues they raised in the memorandum are not new — they have been raised several times before, but the department has failed to attend to them.

The union has been observing the high level of staff shortages in forensic pathology services, which compromises the quality of healthcare that is provided to [the community] and dilapidated infrastructure, which also compromises the health and safety of clients/healthcare users, including the staff members who are charged with the responsibility of delivering the health care services.

Ngubane said on Monday morning, when he went to Fort Napier, the situation was terrible.

The mortuary fridges are not working and the air conditioning is not working. The bad smell starts as soon as you enter the premises, it is unbearable. We have tolerated this long enough now and it must stop. The only answers we want now is action.
We are giving [the department] seven working days to respond, if not we are going to shut down all the mortuaries in the province.

Spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health Ntokozo Maphisa said:

Yes, the memorandum was received. The department will handle the matter accordingly.