The DA said afterwards that they will write to the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, to ask him to intervene as a matter of urgency.

"It is unacceptable that hospital workers and patients’ lives are being risked over a wage dispute. It is further unacceptable that Nehawu's provincial secretary in the Western Cape, Baxolise Mali, reportedly said that it is not the union’s "responsibility to keep people’s lives", says Michele Clarke, the DA's shadow minister of health.

'More deaths are to follow'

"This deliberate endangerment of lives has already resulted in deaths, according to the Health Minister. And if today’s oversights are any indication, more deaths are to follow.

At Pelonomi Hospital, Nehawu strikers threatened to break our cell phones as we entered the premises to perform oversight, in full view of the large police presence that did not lift a finger to prevent this. The strikers also did not allow any patients to access health care at the facility.

'The conditions at the hospital are shocking. Nurses are forced to don civilian clothes to escape victimisation while working in the paediatric and other wards. Doctors and auxiliary staff have taken over some nursing duties, and all but the most vulnerable and ill patients have been discharged, with much of the overflow going to the National Hospital.

ALSO READ: Nehawu-staking: Babas ly honger, pasiënte kry nie medikasie

"The hospital is in a filthy condition, with medical waste lining the corridors. Only the most urgent and crucial operations can be performed, and there is currently no linen operation at the hospital. The DA was told that there is still food available at the hospital, but it is challenging to get it to the patients.

The DA says that the situation is slightly better at the National Hospital, but Universitas Hospital is experiencing its fair share of problems due to the strike.

"It is disgusting that the government has allowed it to escalate so drastically. An agreement on the wage dispute should have been reached long before ambulances were attacked, patients were booted from hospitals, and health workers were threatened."

OFM News