“Patients are dying on hospital benches while hundreds of nurses are unemployed,” says Nonhlanhla Mazibuko. According to a Groundup report, she was one of over 200 unemployed nurses who marched to the KwaZulu-Natal Health head office in the Natalia Building, Pietermaritzburg, on Monday.
Marching under the banner of the South African Revolutionary Allied Workers Union (SARAWU) they were demanding that the department fill all the vacant posts at hospitals and clinics in KwaZulu-Natal.
Most of the nurses came from Pietermaritzburg, joined by nurses from Greytown, Mandeni, Ngwelezane, Estcourt, Port Shepstone and Durban.
The report says Mazibuko, who is chair of the unemployed nurses committee, said hospital wards were full yet nurses with qualifications were sitting at home. “Some of us studied in private colleges and we don’t have experience. They must not ask for experience. Where are we going to get experience from?” asked Mazibuko. “Those nurses who are trained in private colleges are isolated by the department,” she claimed.
The director of nursing in the province Nompumelelo Sosibo said the department will look at the issues raised by the nurses. Sosibo said health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu will respond to the memorandum in 14 days.
[link url="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/unemployed-nurses-demand-vacant-hospital-posts-be-filled/"]Groundup report[/link]