Update
KNYSNA NEWS - In the wake of recent EFF action against provincial health facilities, ANC members staged their own protests a week ago when they marched from the community daycare (CDC) clinic in White Location to Knysna Provincial Hospital to hand over a memorandum of grievances and demands, which include that chief medical officer Dr Earl du Plooy resigns.
On Saturday 19 May, an anonymous protester said that, to a certain extent, the staff at the hospital can be almost forgiven for being rude to patients: "The hospital is understaffed, so they are overworked and what does Du Plooy do about it – hires old retired staff, how does that help the situation? It doesn't, and the hospital is not helping our communities. We have unemployed qualified graduates and they are not hired."
'Clinic sees only 30 patients a day'
ANC’s branch secretary for Ward 8, Thando Matika, said they have had several meetings with Du Plooy and had hoped that their concerns would be attended to without them having to resort to a march.
“The Knysna CDC only attends to 30 patients a day because of the shortage of staff. The clinic that was meant to be a daycare hospital is failing dismally, there are theatres that are not being used. That is useless expenditure.”
'Passive racism' at hospital
He said their biggest problem with Du Plooy is his passive racism, “It has been brought to our attention that the management at the hospital is all white and whenever employees at this very hospital raise their concerns they are easily dismissed because the management cannot relate.”
Matika then made reference to an elderly lady who resigned three years ago and was hired again by the hospital. “Are there no qualified unemployed graduates in our communities who are in need of jobs, that we hire retired people?”
Another demand is for a committee to be appointed, to assist with the running of the clinic.
'We can't wait until someone dies'
They gave the hospital seven days to reply.
Responding to a question asking why they are only protesting after the EFF's march on 1 May, Matika said, “It’s easy for people to lose focus. The problem here is the management that is failing us – failing the staff and our community. The fact that two parties have raised issues with the same hospital goes to show that there really is a problem here… We cannot wait until someone dies because that can happen when a clinic can take only 30 people and a person who desperately needs the help might not get it. Surely we don’t have to wait until it gets to that?”
The SACP joined in the protest action against Knysna Provincial Hospital on Saturday 19 May.
Meeting planned for 27 May
Regional health spokesperson Nadia Ferreira confirmed receipt of the memorandum and said it has been shared with their provincial office.
“Feedback will be given via the appropriate channels which are not necessarily at subdistrict level, and also note that the MEC will join other MECs for a meeting in Knysna on 27 May to discuss matters raised by the community.”
Ferreira said some of the issues raised during the march are similar to those raised by the EFF. “And therefore I will refer to the statement released by the MEC (Nomafrench Mbombo) on 20 May. While recognising the reality of service pressure, she rejects and condemns any disruption of service by political members at our health facilities across the Western Cape," Ferreira said.
Read a previous article: ANC members march to hospital
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