SowetanLive reports that according to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu), the poor state of security at Mpumalanga’s health facilities is reflected by a robbery at a clinic that left nurses fearful for their safety and the theft of 23 cars from hospitals in the past six months.

The union highlighted the urgent need for the government to give security assurances to its members. In the latest incident, healthcare workers have refused to report for duty at the Mthimba clinic near Hazyview after being robbed at gunpoint last week. Nehawu asked the workers not to show up for duty unless the department of health could guarantee their safety. According to Mpumalanga police, three armed men stormed the clinic on Wednesday afternoon. They allegedly beat up security guards and tied them up before heading to the patients and nurses, robbing them at gunpoint. “I’m scared to even go to work because these guys pointed a gun to my face, and that was the first time in my life that a gun was pointed at me,” a nurse said. Nehawu provincial secretary Welcome Mnisi stated: “The recent attack has sent shock waves among our members, hence we have instructed the workers at Mthimba clinic to down tools until the department has assured us of their safety. Not only are we concerned about the safety of staff members but of the patients too because they fall victim due to lack of security. We have sat with the department including former premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, promises we made to secure clinics and hospitals but nothing was done until now.” Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Mpumalanga department of health reported that 23 cars, including two mobile clinics, had been stolen from the province's hospitals over the past six months. So far, police have only managed to recover three of the vehicles.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mandla Khoza at SowetanLive

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page