GroundUp reports that the entrance to Groote Schuur hospital was blocked with burning rubbish bins and portable toilets shortly after noon on Tuesday by hospital porters who lost their jobs after a new company took over the portering contract from 1 March.
A group of about 100 porters waited outside the hospital for the outcome of negotiations with hospital management which began on Monday. When a delegation from the EFF, which the porters had requested to negotiate on their behalf, announced that no progress had been made, the porters dragged plastic rubbish bins and a mobile toilet into the road and set them alight, effectively blocking ambulances from getting to the trauma unit. Signposts, paving blocks, and other material were also dragged into the road, hindering patients trying to leave the hospital parking area. Security guards idly stood by and a group of about 30 EFF members looked on. A hospital worker who attempted to bring a fire extinguisher to douse the flames was accosted by the protesters and forced to retreat. After police arrived, at least two rubber bullets were fired at the protesters. Stun grenades were also used. Deputy chairperson of the EFF in Cape Town, Ntsikilelo Tyandela, said a new tender had been awarded to a company called Zara, replacing SD, a company that had long held the contract. Tyandela said some of the porters had held their jobs for eight, and even 20 years, and had worked through the Covid-19 pandemic, but the new company had not taken them on. The provincial health department condemned the disruption. It confirmed that the new contract was concluded at the end of February.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Steve Kretzmann and Marecia Damons at GroundUp
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