This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
The Citizen reports that the Young Nurses Indaba Trade Union (YNITU) has called on the MEC for Health in Gauteng, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, to refrain from making empty promises, in order to gain media attention.
The union’s general secretary Lerato Mthunzi was referring to Nkomo-Ralehoko’s reply in the Gauteng Legislature that the health department intended to re-open Kempton Park hospital. The 300-bed hospital was closed down in 1997 because it was “underused”. “If the hospital were to reopen this would be a positive step because Tembisa Hospital is struggling under the strain. There is a desperate shortage of health care facilities, staff and also medicine and equipment in the health sector generally, and this puts a major strain on workers as well. It makes the task of providing quality healthcare even more difficult,” said Nkomo-Ralehoko. Mthunzi said although the announcement was welcome, YNITU was sceptical about it because of the lack of detail in the plan and because there were no timelines for when the hospital would re-open. “These PR stunts by the health department have a direct negative impact workers who are completely overburdened because we have a dire shortage of hospital beds. We call on the department of health to stop engaging in PR and to actually keep their promises for a change,” said Mthunzi.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at The Citizen
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page