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Outside the Gauteng Health Department office.
The Gauteng Department of Health says it is addressing the issue of unpaid salaries affecting healthcare workers at public hospitals in the province.
This comes after reports that several doctors at facilities, including Chris Hani Baragwanath, Charlotte Maxeke, and Dr George Mukhari hospitals, have not been paid for months.
The Department attributes the issue in part to a verification process aimed at identifying legitimate employees on the payroll. It says some staff members at Chris Hani Baragwanath failed to comply with the process, resulting in the freezing of their salaries.
Department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba says, “We said we’re going to be verifying all our 85 642 employees who are currently on the department’s payroll as part of a campaign to ensure that we can account for each and every person who is on that payroll.”
“And we said that failure to participate in that process would have other consequences and those consequences, some of them would be freezing of those salaries. At the end of April, there were about 188 employees whose salaries were frozen because they had not come forth to verify themselves,” adds Modiba.
PODCAST | Motalatale Modiba’s full interview on The Morning Brief on SAfm:
Meanwhile, Carletonville Hospital has shut down its theatre and maternity units due to an ongoing water crisis, raising concerns over patient safety.
The water shortage is linked to the Merafong Local Municipality’s outstanding debt of R1.6 billion to Rand Water. As a result, Rand Water has reduced the municipality’s water supply by 20%.
Democratic Alliance Gauteng Health Spokesperson Madeleine Hicklin says the situation is placing further strain on healthcare staff.
“Nurses are now tasked with collecting water from tankers and carrying it up five flights of stairs to meet patient needs, adding to their already demanding workload,” says Hicklin.
She adds: “This situation is unbearable. Outpatient and emergency departments lack toilet facilities, while inpatients have limited access to water and restrooms, relying on manual delivery. The DA Gauteng demands Premier Panyaza Lesufi resolve the water crisis affecting patients and health professionals in this hospital.”
