Swaziland’s Red Cross society has issued an SOS to retired nurses to help revive public health services, crippled by a nurses’ strike that entered a third day on Thursday and has claimed at least six lives, according to media reports.
Both state radio and the royal-owned Swazi Observer newspaper on Thursday said six people have died due to the strike but the private Times daily put the toll at eight.
Swaziland’s Red Cross public relations officer Chris Dlamini said the situation is so bad that if no volunteers come forward, more people will die.
”We are making a plea to those nurses that retired and want to come and help save the situation to come to our rescue and help those people writhing in pain with no one to look after them because of the strike action by the country’s nurses,” Dlamini said on state-run radio late on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Swaziland Nurses’ Association public relations officer Thabsile Dlamini said the nurses will continue their strike until the state pays them overtime arrears dating back as far as 2001.
Health and Social Welfare Minister Sipho Shongwe said in a statement late on Wednesday that according to the Industrial Relations Act of 2000 ”nurses were part of essential services so their strike action in illegal”.
”The ministry wishes to express its regret and sincere apologies to the nation for this unfortunate incident,” he said.
”I would also like to extend our heartfelt condolences to those who died as a result of neglect during the ongoing nurses’ strike.” — Sapa-AFP