Download PDFIn Mpumalanga under the Thembisile Hani local municipality, Community Healthcare Workers (CHWs) have been asked to fill in and sign forms to verify themselves in the system and their work. CHWs have also been asked to bring certified copies of their identification documents and their daily registers.
This poses questions for many CHWs about whether they are being relegated (demoted) from their daily work. CHWs are worried and asking themselves, “why is all this happening to us now” because they have been working in the health system for a long time. They are worried that the government is planning on terminating their contracts.
Recently, at Thembalethu Community Healthcare Centre (CHC) some nurses have been resigning due to the pressure they get from patients in the community. Some stated that because they are working with shortages such as a shortage of staff, they end up fighting with their patients verbally.
One of the nurses was also forced to take leave after wrongfully sharing with patients that another patient is taking ARVs (HIV medication). The nurse told the HIV-positive patient about her ARV medication in front of other people in the clinic, including patients and staff.
This caused a lot of drama in the facility and led to the HIV-positive patient calling her brothers to come and physically assault the nurses. The security guard had to be called into the clinic to calm the situation. The nurse said that she was working under pressure that day and that she is sorry about the situation.
This article was submitted on 11 June 2022. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
