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The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] in Mpumalanga is concerned about the lack of proper security in hospitals and clinics across the province. 

This has led to the death and injury of both staff and patients on numerous occasions. On Saturday night a male patient was killed at the Witbank hospital by gun-wielding thugs. Violence directed at both staff ad patients has also been report at the Mapulaneng and KwaMhlanga hospitals.

As NEHAWU we appeal to our government to look into this issues as a matter of urgency as our members are now dreading going to work. With the imminent implementation of the National Health Insurance [NHI] the issue of safety in healthcare institutions must be a top priority for our government. In this regard, we call on government to urgently look into the following:

·       Implementation of the benchmarking resolutions which were conducted in Gauteng Province in 2018.

·       Implementation of the recommendations from the Provincial Safety and Security Imbizo held in September 2019

·       Insourcing of security services

As NEHAWU, we demand a speedy resolution to this issue as the lives of our members and patients are continuously in danger. In this regard, if the issue of security is not resolved as quickly as possible we will be left with no option but to mobilise all our members in all our public health institutions to withdraw their labour and embark on a mass action.

NEHAWU sends condolences to the patient that was killed at Witbank Hospital and calls on law enforcement agencies to apprehend the perpetrators as soon as possible. 

Issued by NEHAWU