Scores of disgruntled former COVID-19 contract workers have threatened to camp outside Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s offices in Johannesburg to seek the immediate renewal of their contracts.
They say they will sit outside Lesufi’s offices until their demands are met.
They accuse the provincial health department of disregarding a directive from Lesufi to have their contracts extended until 2024, after their contracts lapsed in March of this year.
The bulk of the workers were employed at the Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria.
One of them, Niola Mashishi says, “I’m one of the COVID-19 contract workers who’ve been left out, on the first [of] August when 511 COVID workers were given appointment letters to go back to their work. Now our issue here is that the Premier announced that all COVID contractors who their contracts expires on 31 March 2023, should go back to work. But unfortunately that didn’t happen. So now we will be going to Premier’s office to seek answers.”
Gauteng health to use R600 million to retain some of the COVID-19 contract workers:
