Lawyers of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) are busy putting up a legal challenge to the ridiculous and most senseless eviction order that the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has obtained from the court to evict nurses at two of the hospital residences in the province to make space for accommodating foreign doctors.

They are busy making themselves look good to the foreign guests at the expense of ill-treating nurses at King Edward Hospital where they have obtained an eviction order. As if that was not embarrassing enough, they are now harassing nurses at Wentworth Hospital and are obtaining an order. No amount of reasoning by DENOSA to them against this bad idea held any water. They responded to DENOSA’s communication by saying they have referred the matter to their Legal Services at Head Office, as if that is the best thing after sliced bread!

While this abhorrent attitude by the department is no longer surprising due to government’s heartlessness character towards health workers lately, there was still a low level of expectation remaining that they would still be respectful enough to the laws that prevent evictions during a national lockdown. But alas!

That they are chucking out nurses to make way for foreign health professional speaks volumes about the new lows of disrespect for South African healthcare workers who are still bearing scars of loss and neglect from one of the world’s biggest pandemics because of their poor support during COVID-19. And now they want to put the final nail in the coffin of nurses’ prolonged misery by making them homeless.

“This attack on healthcare workers, after what they went through during COVID-19, is completely irrational, insensitive and downright inhumane,” says DENOSA Provincial Secretary, Mandla Shabangu.

“We view the reasons advanced by Wentworth Hospital management as very divisive among workers. This attitude is simply undermining your own. We are getting legal interventions on both King Edward and Wentworth hospitals’ evictions. Workers will continue to be abused even when you speak sense to the Department, because their ears and eyes are closed tightly.”

End

Issued by DENOSA in KwaZulu-Natal

For more information, contact:

Mandla Shabangu, DENOSA KZN Provincial Secretary

Cell: 071 643 3369 Tel: 031 305 1417