/ 29 June 2009

KZN doctors defy court order

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) doctors on Monday defied a court order that compels them to go back to work.

”We will continue with the strike until our demands are met. We are defying the court order,” said KwaZulu-Natal striking doctors’ spokesperson Dr Shailendra Sham.

On Saturday, the Labour Court in Durban granted the KwaZulu Natal health department an interim interdict forcing health workers to return to work.

Sham said doctors were angered by the department’s move to suspend some who had taken part in the strike.

”We have been told that six doctors have been suspended and some have been receiving phone calls from the administration office.”

He said doctors were gathering outside the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine in Durban on Monday morning.

Democratic Alliance health spokesperson John Steenhuisen said it was ”sheer lunacy” that the health department could even consider dismissing doctors.

”Despite the seriousness of the situation, the fact remains that the province is facing a critical shortage of doctors, particularly in urban areas — who will replace them if they are dismissed?”

Steenhuisen said the strike had been ”a long time coming” and called the government’s latest offer to doctors ”unsatisfactory”.

”Clearly government has not met their needs. We urge all parties to return to the negotiating table, in good faith, so that the issue can be resolved once and for all. South Africa cannot afford to lose more good doctors.”

He said while his party remained sympathetic to the plight of doctors in the province, the interdict stated that they must return to work and the rule of law must be obeyed.

Health department spokesperson Chris Maxon said they were busy doing head counts to see which doctors had defied the court order. He said he was not aware of any doctor who had been suspended for taking part in the strike.

Doctors at several hospitals countrywide embarked on an illegal strike earlier this month to protest against the occupational-specific dispensation, an adjustment of salary grades for public servants.

Durban was the most affected by the strike. — Sapa