Essential healthcare workers who played a pivotal role during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 must return to work.
This is contained in a memorandum of grievances submitted to the office of Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi by healthcare workers and members of Operation Dudula.
On Friday, hundreds of healthcare workers and members of Operation Dudula marched from the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg to both the provincial department of health and Lesufi’s office.
This after they spent a cold night outside the premier’s office where they patiently waited for promised letters of appointment.
In the memorandum, which Sunday World has seen, the workers highlight their need for jobs after suffering the trauma of being infected and affected by the deadly virus and having to witness patients dying in front of them each day.
They say they risked their lives dedicating time and energy to saving the nation from the highly contagious virus.
“We were used and then unfairly dumped by the government we once trusted and elected,” read parts of the memorandum.
“We want to say the following to the president of the republic, Cyril Ramaphosa, that you needed us as frontliners when it was dangerous to be in public healthcare facilities.
“We know this because some of us were infected while on duty by this lethal virus. Let us remind you that some of us died while others infected their families and/or spouses.
“As Covid-19 frontliners, we would like the country to know that most public healthcare facilities still need us today.”
The memorandum further states that some frontline healthcare workers hired during the Covid-19 hard lockdown suffered from depression, noting that they are now battling poverty as a result of being unemployed.
The protestors said 10 000 jobs from the Gauteng government’s Nasi iSpani project should be set aside for frontline workers who helped fight the pandemic.
“We demand that you take us all under the Nasi Ispani electioneering project for 12 months. We demand employment letters now.
“We demand that while we are contracted under the Nasi Ispani electioneering project, the department of health should be tasked with finding a budget for [our] permanent employment during or at the end of the 12-month contracts.
“We demand that you [office of the premier] prioritise the Covid-19 frontliners when permanent job opportunities occur during the 12-month contracts,” reads the memorandum.
They also pleaded with Lesufi to instruct the provincial department of social development to provide counselling services to affected workers.
Operation Dudula spokesperson Isaac Lesole said the night vigil and a march were the first steps in a fight to get unemployed healthcare workers rehired.
“These people stuck to the pledge that they would save lives but the government is failing to save their jobs,” said Lesole.
“You cannot just use people like that and then throw them away immediately when you no longer see a need to utilize them. There was no budget [to hire them], but suddenly there is a budget for the Nasi Ispani project.
“The premier was smart to find a way to reduce unemployment, but we believe the frontliners need to be proritised. It is only the beginning, we will fight to the end.”
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