Community health workers strike for better working conditions
Recently, community health workers picketed outside the Gauteng Department of Health demanding that department employ them directly. Currently, the department pays non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which in turn contract and pay community health workers. Community health workers allege that these NGOs continue to impose ‘dry seasons’ without pay while others fail to pay workers.
Zandile Sibiya is a peer educator with a local NGO. She told OurHealth that her NGO imposes a three-month ‘dry season’ during which newly recruited community health workers much work without pay.
“It is not an easy thing to wake up every day and go save a community on an empty stomach,” she said. “We save lives by making sure that patients do not default on their treatment, but no one is taking care of us.”
Community health workers also continue to allege some NGOs frequently do not pay them on time, according to counsellor Thandi Shezi
“Our NGOs are not treating us equally,” she told OurHealth. “Some of us are told that there is no money to pay us while others get their money for the same work.”
While community health workers picketed in September, some patients were left without home-based care and adherence counselling.
“While we are here, some of our patients’ lives are at risk,” Shezi said. “We love to save people’s lives, but it is not fair to be expected to volunteer forever.”
This is at least the second such protest in three years. In 2010, HIV lay counsellors from Johannesburg’s West and East Rands went on strike following similar allegations regarding lack of payment and ‘dry seasons.’
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From yesterdays budget it is clear there is no money for NHI and equally no money for CHWs beyond what they have already in the budget. But there could be. For the 100th time let me quote the only really efficient Minister in our entire cabinet – 2010 meeting with him on CHWs he said: “in 2004 we had 24 Directors, now we have 80” he recognised that this was hugely inefficient and a colossal waste of money, Many of these “directors” were incompetent but even if they were competent the bureaucratic proliferation is so huge that no one could ever hope for administrative and policy efficiency. Government needs a shake out and a big reduction in useless and unnecessary posts. This would save many billions which would not be enough to fund NHI but it would be enough to fund CHWs!