'Please don’t call me a hero – I am being martyred against my will.”
Among other things, the union is demanding adequate PPE, the immediate and periodical Covid-19 testing of all healthcare workers, Covid-19 training for all nurses, and the nationalisation of all healthcare services so workers and resources can be shared equally by all hospitals and clinics.The strike, said union founder and president Lerato Madumo-Gova, was sparked by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s failure to direct any relief measures to nurses during his address about the issue on April 23.
Madumo-Gova said nurses were told to wash the masks at home, even though each mask is supposed to be used for contact with one patient only and then discarded.. We have been neglected for too long. It should end now because if it doesn’t, it means it will never end. There will be no healthcare system without nurses. Nurses’ lives matter and nurses are human too,” said Madumo-Gova.
Many union members have apparently spent large amounts of money on using Uber services to get to work so they do not pose a risk to taxi commuters. Some have had to pay for accommodation near the hospitals where they work because they fear infecting their families. The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers said it would join the strike because of government’s neglect of community health workers, who are paid only R3,000 a month. It also wants Covid-19 danger money and permanent jobs for community health workers.“Nurses should at least enjoy income tax breaks and danger allowances as a means of motivation in this fight against a raging pandemic,” said general secretary Mngomezulu Mayoyo.
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