Health worker unions expose alarming problems in Gauteng Health Department through protest march

Several Gauteng health worker unions marched in protest on Monday, calling for the employment of more nurses and critical staff in hospitals. They demonstrated outside the provincial Department of Health’s office and the premier’s door in Johannesburg’s CBD, as reported by Eyewitness News.

The protest occurred three weeks after a Nehawu strike, which had a knock-on effect on health services in the province. The Haitu and Ilawu unions joined forces on Monday to launch a call for urgent intervention in the state of the Gauteng Health Department.

Union workers gathered in numbers and took their list of grievances to the Gauteng premier’s office. The president of Haitu, Rich Sicina, accused the Health Department of blatantly ignoring the issues nurses face at public hospitals.

“All we are trying to highlight and make noise is that the public healthcare system is falling apart,” Sicina emphasised that this was not the first protest led by a health union. However, the issues at public hospitals require serious attention.

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Picture:  Photo by Laura James