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DENOSA NATIONAL STUDENT MOVEMENT SUPPORTS THE INITIATIVE OF COMMUNITY SERVICE NURSES IN GAUTENG TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LONG OVERDUE SALARIES.
Media statement
Attention: All Media Houses
Sunday, 30 August 2020
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) Student Movement remains livid with the continuous failure of the Gauteng Department of Health to pay full salaries to community service nurses as agreed in 2019 and will join the 2020 group next week Monday, the 31st August 2020, as they all meet with the senior management of the Department.
This is their fight and they must lead it and determine what is to be done. We condemn any attempt to hijack this struggle for cheap points.
Hundreds of community service nurses in Gauteng took to the streets of Johannesburg on the morning of July 24, 2019 where they delivered a memorandum of demands to the MEC over delayed payment of their community service salaries. As a result of the same march, the DENOSA Gauteng Provincial Student Movement (GPSM) met on several occasions after the “2019 Gatvol Community Service March” with the Gauteng Department of Health (GDOH) senior management.
In these meetings, it was agreed that the 2020 Community Service Professional Nurses would be translated as from the commencement of their community service month and be paid full salaries of community service nurses.
We followed up on the matter again this year in April and empty promises were given by the department of health. HR offices continued with their arrogance towards our members when they enquire about their hard earned wages. This undermines the efforts of the nurses' devoted service to the community and the lies demonstrate a middle finger thrown at the labour movement.
It tells us that talk is no longer fruitful and attitude is the language they want to speak. With that said, the only response we want to receive is that they will place all professional Nurse Community service practitioners into their rightful posts and release all benefits according to OSD immediately.
We further advised the Department of Health that for 2020 the GDoH ought to learn from Mpumalanga on how to pay community service nurses like all other health professions, paying community service nurse as soon as the beginning of community service. Community service is compulsory as stipulated in the Nursing Act and the National Department of Health sends to a province a number of professional nurses according to indication by the province of how many community service post are readily available for the preceding year.
Secondly, proof of registration is the college's confirmation and SANC registration fee as shown in the receipts under the category community service and therefore are sufficient to be submitted for translation pending the submission of "certificate of Registration" and Diplomas/Degrees that can be submitted later in the year. This calls for the Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize to look at implementing a standard approach in all provinces.
Despite all the advice, once again this year Community Service Professional Nurses are not paid, not appreciated and exploited as they are expected to work as Professionals whilst earning a student stipend. In a province with severe staff shortages, community service nurses are expected to be fully effective especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, yet the department fails to show any sign of appreciation towards them.
The attitude of the HR department is uncalled for and they are forever unwilling to assist new employees. There have been many circulars released by the HOD which have not been implemented by the HR departments of districts or institutions and the HOD must account for such behaviour. The department must stop exploiting our labour. To date, some have received little or no uniform allowance but are expected to be in full uniform, report to work on time, find their own accommodation etc, all on a mere student stipend.
The 2020 group demands are simple:
• Immediately translate into the correct notch and back-pay all 2020 Community Service Professional Nurses.
• Immediately pay all community services nurses who have received a reduced amount or no amount at all the correct standardized uniform allowance amount.
• Absorb all Community Service 2020 nurses into Professional Nurse Post’s as early as January 2021.
• Urgently attend to the continuous chronic failures of the Human Resource department in the Province.
We do not want to witness this again in the following years. It is no secret that this is brought about by the change in funding model for nursing education. The PERSAL system was appropriate and didn’t have challenges such as this one.
We say to the 2020 group that we will support any of their initiatives without fail. The COVID-19 pandemic must not be used as an excuse to avoid the plight of workers or a tool to weaken the organisation and unity of the working class.
#TALKISNOLONGERFRUITFUL
#PAYCOMMUNITYSERVICENURSES
#
End//
Issued by DENOSA NATIONAL STUDENT MOVEMENT
For more information, contact:
Sphumelele Blose, National secretary
Cell: 079 300 4409
Nathaniel M Mabelebele, National Chairperson
Cell: 071 684 1646
