Protesters have shutdown the Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp in the North West. The protesters are not allowing anyone to enter or leave the hospital.
It is not clear whether the protest is a continuation of the health workers’ strike by members of trade union Nehawu in the province or if it related to Saftu’s mass shutdown.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi says they are aware of what is happening at the hospital.
Doctor at the hospital, Professor Ebrahim Variyava, says the protesters have been burning tyres and ambulances are not allowed in.
He says there is no security, no police escort or anything else.
“We are really concerned that our patients who are in ICU, in the various wards, are not going to be seen by clinicians – and I am uncertain about how many nurses there still are, because the nurses would have been on from last night. We all sitting outside Klerksdorp hospital which is functional, and we want to get to Tshepong.”
“Some of the strikers were asking for R20 to allow doctors to move in. Its pure anarchy,” says Variyava.
