Benedictine Hospital staff left in ‘limbo’ over car discs protest outside the hospital’s premises in Nongoma. | Supplied
Durban — Public Servants Association (PSA) provincial manager Mlungisi Ndlovu says a Zululand health district task team has been formed to resolve a week-long protest over staff parking discs at Benedictine Hospital in Nongoma.
Some employees were left in limbo outside the hospital premises when they were allegedly denied access to the staff parking lot because they failed to produce discs. This led to a standoff between employees and hospital management.
Many of the staff claimed not to have been given adequate time to get the discs but had also complained about the condition of the parking area.
Hospital management, by letter, said that they mitigated the safety risks of occupants of the staff residence and the risk of theft of state property.
Ndlovu said they had been approached by numerous employees regarding the matter. He said the PSA denounced the unlawful actions of the CEO of Benedictine Hospital, who unjustly locked out employees over the car discs and called for an investigation into the CEO.
“The CEO’s illegal lockout and arrogant and bullying behaviour not only violated legal labour standards but also endangered patients’ welfare. This decision was reckless as it has excluded nearly 30% of the hospital’s workforce, severely disrupting hospital operations and compromising patient care,” Ndlovu said.
The PSA said that the measure resulted in nurses, clerks and doctors being barred from entering the hospital, causing a significant delay to the start of their shifts and compromising the delivery of critical health-care services.
The lockout allegedly left patients waiting for hours for medical attention, putting their lives at risk. The PSA condemned this reckless decision which prioritised parking discs over patient care.
“The district director’s instructions were clear: engage with employees and address their concerns. Instead, the CEO chose to lock out dedicated health care professionals, jeopardising the very lives they are sworn to protect.”
Ndlovu said the PSA welcomed the district director’s swift intervention, which led to the formation of a task team to address workers’ concerns. However, the PSA called for an immediate end to lockouts without addressing PSA members’ concerns; a comprehensive overhaul of the parking allocation system (including parking discs linked to workstation proximity); convenient, safe and secure parking; proper shelter and security measures; and an end to discrimination in parking allocation, ensuring equal access for all staff members.
The PSA called on the head of department, Dr Sandile Tshabalala, to take immediate action to address these concerns and ensure alignment in parking allocation across all health facilities.
Requests for comment were sent to the KZN Department of Health but it had not responded at the time of going to print despite a reminder.
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