Care workers demand ‘decent wages’

NORTHERN Cape community health workers (CHWs) who are affiliated with the South African Care Workers Forum staged a protest outside Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley on Thursday to express their concerns over being the lowest paid workers in the health-care industry.

The CHWs indicated that they have the right to be treated with dignity.

“Government cannot keep us in the background forever. We urgently call upon government to pay our stipends backdated from the last contract that was signed. It is more than a year since we received uniforms,” they said.

Northern Cape Community Health Workers provincial secretary Oatlhotse Moise stated that CHWs were still receiving stipends that had not increased since 2022.

“We play a critical role in taking care of patients who are mostly vulnerable and come from disadvantaged communities. However, our remuneration does not reflect the importance of our duty to the community. The department is withholding increments while the cost of living has skyrocketed. As a result, we are struggling to support ourselves and our families,” said Moise.

The acting head of the Northern Cape Department of Health, Dr Alastair Kantani, recognised the importance of the work done by CHWs.

He indicated that he would provide a response to the memorandum handed over as soon as he had conducted his own research and had familiarised himself with the previous contract that was signed.

“CHWs are part of universal health coverage and it won’t be done away with. I trust that we will come to an agreement. We will see what needs to be done to avoid similar challenges in the future,” said Kantani.