Rob Ferreira strike: ‘ANC doesn’t care’ – DA

MBOMBELA – Rob Ferreira Hospital’s administrative personnel brought admissions to a standstill during a protest on Tuesday morning. They were motivated by a list of complaints, demanding improved resources, that was handed over to the hospital’s CEO. Although staff claimed their actions would better the situation, patients who had to wait for hours felt different.

Administrative staff at Rob Ferreira refused to admit any patients on Tuesday between 06:00 and 12:00. Lowvelder visited the main admissions area, where more than 100 patients waited in vain for personnel to assist.

Just after 09:00 employees were heard singing on their way to the office of the CEO, Ms Frieda Nyathi, armed with their complaints. These included a need for printers in the administrative department, a shortage of computers and a complaint about the lift which has been out order since 2005. It further stated that shelves for administrative files had been broken for months, that new chairs were needed and an improved filing system.

Video footage of the strike:

Protesters arrived at Nyathi’s office, where their letter was accepted after a waiting period of 15 minutes. “We’ve shut down this hospital in order to get our complaints heard,” one of them said. “This is the only way to get what we need to serve the patients. This protest action is not for us, it’s for the patients. We need the resources to help them.”

Nyathi, the protesters and other stakeholders met in one of the hospital’s offices. A security guard barely managed to keep members of the public and the media out of the meeting as the door to their meeting area was broken.

A waiting period of more than two hours followed, during which Lowvelder obtained various patients’ views. According to Ms Katriena Scheepers, the strike was harming patients. “These people say they are protesting to benefit the patients, but this is no way to do it. They forsake their patients and have meeting after meeting while patients pile up. If you want to organise a protest, organise it in such a way that the patients won’t suffer like we are suffering now. Arrange your meetings out of work hours and focus on us, the patients. I’ve had enough of Rob Ferreira’s excuses.”

Mr Andries van Aswegen (68) was instructed to return to the hospital in February 2014. “I’ve been struggling with this place for more than a year. All I want is an eye test. I paid R200 for transport to get here. I can’t turn around now.”

Mr John Zulu’s foot had been in excruciating pain, causing him to rush to hospital at 05:00. “I have a septic wound on my foot. I can’t sleep, I can’t move. I travelled from KaNyamazane for medical help.” When Lowvelder caught up with Zulu at 13:00, he was crying from the pain, but was told that he had to return on Wednesday as a result of the backlog caused by the protest.

Ms Joan Opperman (52) had been waiting for assistance since 06:30 that morning. “This is the second time that I’ve been delayed at the hospital due to employees striking. It is obvious that there are problems here that need to be solved. Why is nobody solving the problems? Why are the people whose job it is, not solving the problems?”

This same question was posed by the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) chief whip, Ms Jane Sithole, in the Mpumalanga Legislature on Tuesday. A press release by Sithole stated that she had requested the Mpumalanga Government to assist in resolving the conflict between hospital management and administrative staff. “Government must intervene to ensure that no patient goes unattended to avoid any loss of life,” she said. Sithole’s motion was unanimously defeated by the ANC. “This is a blatant indication that the ANC does not care about the residents of Mpumalanga.”

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