A debilitating strike which affects health services in Mpumalanga is continuing on Wednesday, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said.
Provincial spokesperson Norman Mokoena said a meeting between the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) and Mpumalanga Premier Thabang Makwetla deadlocked on Tuesday afternoon.
”Negotiations broke down yesterday [Tuesday], we are taking the outcomes of the meeting back to our members today to discuss a way forward,” he said.
The strike began at the Rob Ferreira Hospital in Nelspruit on Tuesday but spread to state hospitals throughout the Lowveld.
”Most of the health workers in the province are members of Nehawu so health services will be affected, unfortunately,” said Mokoena.
Nehawu is calling for the dismissal of the head of the department of health and social services, Dr Confidence Moloko.
A spokesperson for the premier, Lebona Mosia, said it was agreed at the meeting that the ”current atmosphere of hostilities must be demobilised with immediate effect and problems should not be communicated at protest level”.
But Mokoena said government had not met their demand to dismiss Moloko. The strike would therefore continue.
”Since his employment [Moloko], morale in the department’s has tremendously gone down to the extent that service delivery is affected. If Mr Thabang Makwetla is serious about taking service delivery to greater heights in Mpumalanga, he should soon realise that Mr Moloko is a grave threat to that noble idea,” said Mokoena.
On Monday, police and picketing Nehawu employees clashed after union members blockaded the entrance to the Rob Ferreira Hospital. Eight members were arrested and three were injured with rubber bullets. – Sapa