Emergency and security workers down tools over pay

Dozens of emergency medical services (EMS) workers from the East Rand, along with security personnel yesterday, downed tools in a protest against the ongoing attacks on EMS personnel, low wages and working overtime without compensation.

The angry and frustrated workers marched from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Johannesburg to the Gauteng department of health offices to hand over a memorandum of demands.

According to a representative of the EMS personnel, Bonginkosi Dlamini, they have been working 192 hours a month instead of 40 hours a week, which amounts to 160 hours as stipulated in their contracts.

“As it stands now, we are short-staffed and that is putting a lot of pressure on us. There aren’t enough people to respond to emergency cases which makes the public aggravated and leads them to attacking us,” he said.

“We need better working conditions, including an increase in our danger allowance from R472 to at least R2 500 so that if we are robbed, we can replace what we might have lost.”

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EMS personnel were robbed, assaulted and shot at in the line of duty last Friday in the Dukathole informal settlement, Germiston, and others attacked by residents in Magaliesburg while responding to a distress call.

The singing in protest echoed around Johannesburg’s Newtown where the EMS personnel brought their grievances, saying that their employer was not taking them seriously.

Meanwhile, EMS worker Selby Marakalato said as a women, she was constantly in fear of what might happen when she responded to emergencies following the rape of two staffers while responding to an emergency call.

“My family calls me every hour especially when I’m working night shifts just to make sure that I’m okay,” she said.

“We no longer feel safe and worst of all, while we are risking our lives for our jobs, the government is overworking and underpaying us.”

Another worker, Mpho Sekwaila, said he was disappointed in how the government has treated them and feels that nothing is being done to protect them.

“I started working 15 years ago and nothing has changed. I love my job and love helping people but I fear for my life as our colleagues are constantly being attacked,” Sekwaila said.

“What’s even sad is the fact that we do not qualify for RDP houses, home and car loans, or paying tuition fees for our children who also do not qualify for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.”

Sekwaila said they have been taken for granted for far too long and they need a change in the current system because there are many underlying issues that continue to demoralise them.

Acting head of the provincial department of health Arnold Malotana accepted the memorandum from the EMS workers on behalf of health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi, citing that she was too ill to meet the protesters.

Malotana and the EMS representatives agreed to meet on 26 May to discuss a way forward and get a response to the memorandum, which will decide whether or not they embark on a shutdown.

– reirumetsem@citizen.co.za