‘Thanks for the opportunity but we will not be commenting,’ says provincial health department.
Worried about their safety, staff at Montebello Hospital downed tools on Monday and left the hospital with the gates closed. But in this case, the trigger for the action was not Covid-19, but fear of local protests by residents demanding jobs at the hospital.
The hospital in Ozwathini, about an hour outside Pietermaritzburg, closed after local residents protested for two weeks. Patients were moved to Stanger hospital. Some were moved by family members. Others were discharged.Staff told GroundUp that the protests turned violent and workers were blocked from entering the hospital.
“We were receiving threats every day when coming to work. It became worse last week. The community has become violent. They have been camping outside the hospital since last week. Workers were not allowed to go inside the hospital. We had to find ways of getting inside and going out,” said a staff member.
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