The National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) welcomes the presentation of the Draft Policy Framework and Strategy for Primary Healthcare Outreach Teams at the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council (PHSDSBC) today.

This is an important step towards the realisation of the absorption of this cadre of Community Health Workers and Home-based Carers into the public service proper in line with the long-standing demands of our campaign on the National Health Insurance (NHI) and the insourcing of public services.

This marks an important victory for these workers, for the NHI and our campaign as also expressed in our recent hugely successful mass protests on the 10 February 2017 and 22 February 2017 during the Budget Day in which ten-thousands of Community Health Workers and Home-based Carers participated.

Thus, as NEHAWU we pride and count ourselves to be amongst the pioneers of the introduction of the Primary Health Care approach at the centre of the District Health System as a foundation of the NHI in which these workers would be an indispensable component. To this extent, we also appreciate the fact that this is the fulfilment of one of the commitments that the ANC-led Alliance have made to the electorate in 2014 elections which has been reinforced by the decisions of the ANC NEC calling for the absorption of these workers into the public service as part of the primary health care engineering.

Thus, building upon our ongoing campaign that we have been waging in the provinces, NEHAWU shall be rolling–out a consultation process with the Community Health Workers and Home-based Carers as part of our preparations for engagements with government on the conditions of service for this new cadre of the public service at the PHSDSBC.

Issued by NEHAWU