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Anti rape protest
The Department of Health says the Ga-Chuene clinic near Lebowakgomo in Limpopo, where two nurses were kidnapped and raped, will remain closed over the weekend.
Nurses union, Health & Other Services Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa) says the two nurses are traumatised following their ordeal while on duty on Thursday night.
Hospersa says it has communicated with the two nurses who were kidnapped and raped in the bushes outside the clinic at Ga-Chuene.
The two recounted harrowing details of their ordeal following the incident. The union says the nurses previously complained to the health department about security provisions, but their concerns were ignored. The nurses are now receiving medical and psychological support.
The union’s spokesperson Thulani Maluleke says, “They tried to reach out to the management about this incident in a form of grievance, but that grievance was not responded to up until today. So, they are angry and traumatised at the same time.”
Maluleke says the department is failing to comply on issues such as security across health facilities that function 24 hours a day. He maintains that the union is not against the rollout of clinics that operate for 24 hours, but they want their concerns to be addressed first.
He says they have filed papers against the health department in the Labour Court.
“In terms of the Labour Court case that we referred to Labour Court in Gauteng, it was simply to force management and the employer to comply with their own policies because the employer is defending and opposing their own policies that were implemented and approved by the MEC in 2016,” says Maluleke.
Limpopo | Gunmen abduct, rape two nurses on night shift duty
The Limpopo Health Department says it has always worked closely with unions on the matter of clinics that operate 24 hours a day.
Health Spokesperson is Neil Shikwambana says, “Labor unions especially HOSPERSA is utilizing this situation to grad stand because at no point do we open a clinic for twenty four hours without necessarily consulting the unions in all clinics that we open for twenty four hours, even yourself as the media if you have attended one of those you would have realized that we would be working side by side with the unions so that we are in agreement and unison with them but them for now we would not be able to respond to whatever they are saying we’ll await for such time we are served with the papers from the very same court they claim to have taken us to then we’ll ventilate ourselves fully but suffice it to say that we have not forced ourselves on the unions to do 24 hours we have stuck to the policy.”
Meanwhile, patients seeking medical attention at the clinic are being turned away.
The clinic is one of 240 that are designated to operate for 24 hours.
Community members say they are unable to get their scheduled medication: “The closure of the clinic is not sitting well with me. I came here to collect medication, but I cannot get help…the government needs to ensure that our clinics are safe and protected; they must empower security personnel so that they can help in the capture of perpetrators.”
Members of the security industry in the province have called on the health department to beef up security measures.
Sekhukhune Security Crisis and Demands Forum Spokesperson Jackson Nkgudi says more needs to be done to ensure safety.
“We call on the government to increase night shift security staff; more security officers must be hired, more especially for night shift, to ensure backup in a dangerous situation. regular police patrols should patrol more at night, as this is when criminals are more active. Security service providers must provide car patrols and firearms necessary to keep security officers safe and better prepared,” says Nkgudi.
Police are still searching for the suspect. The health department says patients can seek treatment at neighbouring clinics such as Maja, Soetfontein, and Unit B.
Ga-Chuene Clinic I Minister Aaron Motsoaledi condemns attack on health workers:
