GroundUp reports that scores of Eastern Cape ambulance drivers and their assistants laid down tools on Friday and staged sit-ins at their places of work.
The affected regions were the Nelson Mandela Bay, Amathole and Buffalo City municipalities. Ambulances remained parked the whole day outside the emergency medical services' provincial headquarters at Dora Nginza Hospital in Port Elizabeth. At issue was that the drivers have not received backpay owed to them. They said they would only start working after the money had been paid and indicated that they would keep turning up at work but not perform their duties. One worker claimed that the health department had promised them excess allowances, a form of overtime pay, by 6 January but had failed to meet the commitment. According to him, backpay had accumulating since September last year. Eastern Cape Department of Health spokesperson Siyanda Manana said it had been assured by the provincial treasurer that payment would be made on 13 January. Manana added that in the meanwhile the department had enlisted the services of private ambulances to deal with critical cases only.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Joseph Chirume at News24
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