Doctors and nurses on strike in Mpumalanga hospital

Doctors and nurses have gone on strike at Mapulaneng hospital in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, over its poor security.

Local secretary of the South African Medical Association (SAMA) doctor Sifiso Nxumalo says three weeks ago an on-duty doctor was shot at the hospital’s premises. Nxumalo says unarmed security guards at the hospital are frequently overpowered by armed criminals.

He’s also accused the provincial Department of Health of suspending a senior SAMA official for raising the safety issues at Mapulaneng hospital.

“We told the government that look, we are not going to continue, and subject ourselves to these criminals every night, we come to work therefore we will continue to work normal duty, but we withdraw our overtime until the government makes it safe for us to resume night shift work.”

Nxumalo then claims that the government negatively retaliated.

“What then the government decided to do was to suspend and charge our leader, Dr Bruce Malumane, who happened to be the SAMA chairperson on the Lowveld branch Mpumalanga province, they said he is the one who is inciting doctors not to do their overtime work.”