It’s not about you but about serving the country; ministers must serve the country and not their egos
1 August 2020
“It is not about you but about serving the country; Ministers must serve the public and not their egos”. That is the message from the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] to the Minister of Health, Dr Zwelini Mkhize, and the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu.
As NEHAWU, we hold a strong view that the two Ministers believe that the struggle we are currently facing as a country is about them and not about serving the masses of our people from getting infected with COVID-19 and losing their lives. The national union also holds a firm view that their nonchalant response to the attempts by NEHAWU to contribute in the broader fight against the pandemic including our concrete and comprehensive demands to save workers lives is a recipe for disaster.
The daily increase in numbers of workers getting infected with COVID-19 necessitate an urgent and hands-on approach to save lives of the first line of defence – which is our frontline workers. NEHAWU has been at the forefront of pointing out that the fight against the virus is now located in healthcare facilities which are overwhelmed with patients who need medical help with COVID-19 complications. We have constantly underscored the importance of directing efforts to arm frontline workers to deal with the waves of our people who need medical help. NEHAWU was the first union to condemn the misuse of funds by the Eastern Cape by procuring useless scooters while the province was suffering from lack of PPEs. The province now has to send patients to other provinces because the healthcare system cannot cope with the workload.
While we note the recent found enthusiasm by the Minister of Health to urgently deal with the lack of sufficient Personal Protective Equipment [PPEs]. It must, however, be noted that we highlighted the problem of PPEs as early as April 2020. NEHAWU was castigated for wasting the time of the court and accused of grandstanding when it approached the labour court to force the Minister and his MECs to provide sufficient PPEs for frontline workers including safe working conditions.
If the Minister is genuine about fixing the problem of PPEs then he knows where to find us and knows that our doors are always open. However, we will not be making anymore demands to meet any Minister as that time has passed. Moreover, we refuse to engage the Minister of Health through the Ministerial Advisory Committee [MAC] and we reject any attempt to procrastinate this matter unnecessarily due to the unacceptable number of workers losing their lives on a daily basis to COVID-19. Our fact-finding mission report was sent directly to the Minister and not some labour desk of the MAC. Therefore, we also expect the Minister to also engage us directly and not through the labour desk of the MAC that he does not even participate in.
The Minister of Social Development if she cares about the our members and workers who are getting infected on a daily basis at the Department of Social Development, South Africa Social Security Services [SASSA], old age homes, places of safety, etc. she will make time to listen to our concerns and suggestions which will go a long way in saving the lives of many. It is up to her to meet with us or not as we are very close to reaching a conclusive view about her which might impact negatively to our relations with this department.
We find it abhorrent that 26 years into our nascent democracy we still have public representatives who lack the necessary sense of urgency needed to deal with a pandemic of this magnitude. Moreover, it is heart wrenching when it comes from deployees of our glorious movement the African National Congress [ANC] which has always preached the gospel of providing a better life for all. This is the same ANC that workers campaign for and use their energies and resources to guarantee its victory during election campaigns. In this regard, we call on the ANC to caution its deployees to government that workers patience is running thin and must not to take their support for granted as they might explore other options come next elections.
The national union on Friday July 31st, 2020 met both the South African Communist Party [SACP] and the Congress of South African Trade Unions [COSATU] office bearers to take them through the fact-finding mission report and to discuss extensively the struggles currently facing workers in the country. We are elated to announce that both meetings were characterised by robust and fruitful engagements aimed at fixing the dangers confront both workers and society at large.
We are encouraged by the support of both our vanguard party and federation in the implementation our programme of action to protect workers. Moreover, both meetings also discussed plans to fight the corruption associated with the procurement of PPEs and other medical supplies. NEHAWU will continue to meet other strategic organisations including other unions, youth formations and civil society organisations with the aim to mobilise them for the programme of action we are currently implementing. The national union will meet the South African Student Congress [SASCO] on Monday August 3, 2020 and the Young Communist League of South Africa [YCLSA] on Tuesday August 4, 2020.
The manner in which the issue of workers’ health and safety has been handled proves that workers are on their own and they need a fighting union on their side to protect them from losing their lives. NEHAWU will continue to do what it does best which is to protect its members from reckless, lacklustre and intransigent employers.
We also welcome the outcomes of the PEC of the ANC in Gauteng to subject the MEC of Health, Bandile Masuku, and the Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko to the integrity committee. We are looking forward to the outcomes of the investigations and report of the integrity committee. We hope that those found to have looted or benefitted unduly from PPE tenders will face the full might of the law. NEHAWU notes the announcement of the intention by Treasury to decentralise the procurement of PPEs. As NEHAWU, we say the time for empty slogans is over and government has to move with speed to avert the looting of state resources meant to combat the virus.
Issued by Khaya Xaba, NEHAWU National Spokesperson, 1 August 2020
