The recent announcement regarding temporary employment 1,120 healthcare interns has received criticism from the Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (HAITU), saying its a desperate attempt to win votes by the ruling party.
This comes after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, provincial health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, and the Gauteng Emergency Services (EMS) handed over employment contracts to interns who will be joining the healthcare service programmes.
HAITU said it does support the initiative because there’s a dire shortage of EMS workers. However, they were questioning the timing of the appointment and the one-year contract.
“Because we know that this is nothing more than electioneering and a desperate attempt to win votes. This is not a genuine recruitment of workers. If it was, these workers would be employed permanently, and they would not be on one year contract,” the union said.
The union further accused the Gauteng Department of Health abandoning hundreds of nurses who were trained for the R171 and the R425 diploma course in nursing.
“The department spent billions, using taxpayer monies, to train these nurses, with the expectation that they would be employed in order strengthen health care services in the province. But to date, they are frustrated because they are qualified, but jobless,” the union added in a statement.
According to HAITU, some of the health workers who were employed during the pandemic were not permanently.
“To date, HAITU is fighting for these workers to be permanently employed because we desperately need more health care workers in our clinics and hospitals.
“Our hospitals are always full to capacity with patients who need our help but we are unable to adequately serve them because of the extremely high levels of staff shortages that we have,” said the union.
HAITU General Secretary Lerato Mthunzi said the Department of Health was setting the youth up for major disappointment by creating the false impression.
“The reality is that the state is simply trying to win votes ahead of the elections next month,’’ she said.
Mthunzi said they demand the government to permanently employ the new EMS interns and also absorb nurses who were trained for R171 and R452 diploma.
“These demands are not unreasonable and a caring government would act accordingly, to ensure that there is sufficient human resource capacity in all our public healthcare facilities,” Mthunzi added.
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