The Treatment Action Campaign urges the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Mxolisi Nxasana, to drop the charges against the 129 Free State Community Healthcare Workers arrested during a peaceful night vigil in July last year.
27th JANUARY 2015, BLOEMFONTEIN: 129 community healthcare workers (CHWs) and members of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) are set to return to the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on 29th January in regard to criminal charges following their arrest at a peaceful vigil on 10th July. TAC demands these charges be dropped immediately to put an end to this unjust victimisation.
The South African Police Services (SAPS) arrested the CHWs in the early morning hours of 10th July during a peaceful vigil. The CHWs were protesting the state of the public healthcare system in the Free State, their conditions of employment and the 15th June decision of the MEC for the Free State Department of Health, Benny Malakoane, to effectively terminate their employment without warning. The CHWs were charged with contraventions of the Regulations of Gatherings Act 205 of 1993.
The CHWs have already appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court three times: on 11th July 2014, 1st September 2014 and 2nd October 2014. For each appearance, the CHWs travelled long distances, hundreds of kilometers for many, to appear in court. The majority of the CHWs are unemployed and have little or no money.
Most of them are women with families and many are elderly. The CHWs spent many years receiving little and irregular pay and enduring undignified conditions of employment in order to serve some of South Africa's poorest, most vulnerable communities. The principle and respect for the law they have demonstrated in spite of the hardship this unjust prosecution creates for them signals their commitment to their communities and cause.
After their last appearance, it was agreed that the matter would be postponed to allow the CHWs to make formal, written representations to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Mr Mxolisi Nxasana. Their representations, made on 11th November 2014, call upon the NDPP to unconditionally withdraw the charges against them. They can be found here.