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DENOSA Western Cape statement on disruption of healthcare services due to the taxi strike.

Media statement

Friday, 04 August 2023

CAPE TOWN – The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in the Western Cape wishes to implore all employers in both public and private sectors to understand the volatility of the situation as caused by the taxi strike, which has also affected both the healthcare services and the mobility of healthcare workers negatively.

DENOSA is getting very discomforting reports of workers who walked for hours to their homes yesterday after knock-off time because there were no taxis. Moreover, many of the workers who were fortunate enough to have their own cars had their cars set alight or destroyed.

The shortage of police, which is something that our sister union in COSATU has always raised sharply, does not help the situation at this volatile stage. Essential service staff like the nurses are not able to leave their places of residents at the time when the situation is escalating and resulting in more casualties that need medical attention in healthcare facilities.

DENOSA appeals to the City of Cape Town, provincial and national government to intervene in the situation and find common ground in the interest of saving lives, jobs and the economy.

DENOSA wishes to implore all its members who are nurses to please inform their supervisors of their situation, and not to compromise their own safety. In the same breath, DENOSA implores the employers and supervisors to understand the precarious position that workers are finding themselves in and do all they could to support them.

To minimize exposure to danger at the time when few healthcare workers are on duty, DENOSA advises community members to remain in their homes until the situation is brought under control.

We wish all our members, healthcare workers and workers safety at this difficult time.

End.

Issued by DENOSA in Western Cape.

For more information, contact:

Jaco van Heerden, Acting Provincial Secretary.

Mobile: 072 028 4621

Eleanor Roberts, Provincial Chairperson. 

Mobile: 072 554 9929

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