The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) has been placed at the centre of the battle for control inside Mpumalanga’s hospitals, with lawmakers accusing it of effectively deciding who may report for work at state health facilities and who may not.
During a question-and-answer session in the legislature, health MEC Sasekani Manzini revealed that two suspended managers at Embhuleni Provincial Hospital in Elukwatini near Badplaas have spent more than two years earning salaries, unable to return to their posts despite being cleared through disciplinary processes. “The department attempted to reinstate both the corporate manager and the kitchen supervisor, who were frogmarched by organised labour following the clearance of the investigation report.”
Manzini told the legislature that the corporate manager was suspended in 2023 before being cleared to return to work. The food aid manager was suspended in 2024 and later exonerated after disciplinary proceedings. Yet neither has been allowed to properly resume duties. The combined annual earnings of both officials stand at R1,9-million.
Furthermore, Manzini painted a picture of hospital corridors being turned into contested territory, where labour tensions have allegedly become so volatile that the government is concerned for the safety of employees attempting to return to work.
“The whole facility did not accept the reintegration of the corporate manager while the kitchen supervisor was provisionally placed at casualty.
“Since then, the department has been mediating between the affected parties, which eventually came up with a plan that will be implemented for all managers who have been removed from their positions because this is something that is happening most of the time in our facilities,” said Manzini.
That admission exposed a far deeper crisis, suggesting that the Emvuleni saga may merely be a symptom of a broader breakdown of authority inside Mpumalanga’s health institutions.
Manzini said the department has now set a May 31 deadline to resolve the impasse, warning that court interdicts may follow if resistance continues.
“There is no legal provision that allows organised labour to block any person at their workplace,” she insisted.
The revelations triggered outrage among the MPLs, who warned that organised labour appeared to have more power than the state itself. EFF provincial leader Collen Sedibe questioned whether government still retained control over its own institutions.
Sedibe said it was alarming to witness a union wielding such influence over government operations, particularly given that Nehawu forms part of Cosatu, the ANC’s alliance partner.
“We’ve seen Nehawu disrupting departments. What are you discussing as the executive about Nehawu’s conduct because it really cost us? They close and they chase. It’s like they are core employers. Are you co-governing with Nehawu, or what are you saying?”
Sedibe’s remarks captured the growing political anxiety surrounding the influence of unions inside state institutions, a struggle where power, protection and public service increasingly collide.
Lawmakers also questioned how prolonged suspensions and stalled reintegration processes could avoid being classified as unfair labour practices or wasteful expenditures, especially while taxpayers continue footing multimillion-rand salary bills.
But Manzini defended the department’s cautious approach, arguing that safety considerations complicated the matter.
“The safety of the employee becomes a priority in this case… Therefore, unfair labour practice does not logically find application as much as wasteful expenditure, while it was not reasonably invented by the department,” Manzini said.
Nehawu provincial secretary Welcome Mnisi did not respond to a media enquiry.
- The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) has been placed at the centre of the battle for control inside Mpumalanga’s hospitals, with lawmakers accusing it of effectively deciding who may report for work at state health facilities and who may not.
- During a question-and-answer session in the legislature, health MEC Sasekani Manzini revealed that two suspended managers at Embhuleni Provincial Hospital in Elukwatini near Badplaas have spent more than two years earning salaries, unable to return to their posts despite being cleared through disciplinary processes.
- “The department attempted to reinstate both the corporate manager and the kitchen supervisor, who were frogmarched by organised labour following the clearance of the investigation report.” Manzini told the legislature that the corporate manager was suspended in 2023 before being cleared to return to work.
- The food aid manager was suspended in 2024 and later exonerated after disciplinary proceedings.
- Yet neither has been allowed to properly resume duties.
