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The Star reports that the Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (Haitu) has vowed to intensify its protest against the Limpopo Department of Health and its MEC, Dr Phophi Ramathuba.
Led by general secretary Lerato Mthunzi, union members marched to the department’s offices in Polokwane on Friday. They handed over a memorandum of demands relating to a range of issues the union had raised with the department. Among their demands were the absorption of Covid-19 contract workers into permanent work and the filling of vacant posts. There have been concerns over the shortage of nurses in Limpopo, with the unions claiming that the province was failing to fill vacant positions. In March, Ramathuba announced that all clinics would operate on a 24-hour basis. Mthunzi said health workers in the province were being exploited and forced to work long hours due to unfilled vacant posts. She indicated: “Healthcare workers are under immense pressure because of the department’s failure to implement changes to improve standards in public hospitals and clinics. One of the most urgent tasks is to fill all vacancies in the hospitals, and this can be done by insourcing all workers.” Mthunzi went on to say: “We demand that the Limpopo Department of Health must fill the 1,200 vacant positions, which includes the 340 vacant posts for speciality nurses. They must reverse the senseless decision to let go of 706 nurses.” The union said it had given Dr Ramathuba seven days to respond to their demands, and should the department fail to do so, they would intensify their protests.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siyabonga Sithole at The Star
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