NEHAWU Limpopo Condemns The Abduction And Rape Of Nurses At Chuene Clinic
Friday January 10, 2025
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] in Limpopo condemns in the strongest manner the abduction and rape of two nurses at Chuene Clinic in Polokwane.
The incident occurred in the early hours of today, when armed man forcefully entered the clinic and abducted two nurses who were working night shift at the clinic. As NEHAWU, we are angry at the growing violent attacks on healthcare workers throughout the province.
As NEHAWU, we have on numerous occasions called on the Provincial Government and the Department on Health in particular to ensure that healthcare workers are protected in workplace, as they render services to the citizens of the province. These violent crimes against health care workers bring into the spotlight the deficiency of security in our health facilities and the helplessness of our department as it has outsourced the security service to private companies.
We have raised it on many occasions the need to re-insource security in all health facilities so that the department can fully develop a new risk and security strategy which would be implemented by the department and turn around this deficiency in risk and security. The latest act of violence proves beyond reasonable doubt that security is non-existent in healthcare facilities and immediate attention is urgently required on the matter.
As NEHAWU, we are concerned about the lack of proper security in hospitals and clinics across the province. We therefore repeat the call for government to insource security services, develop standards of operations of this service which responds to this challenge. The union will not accept a situation wherein workers are attacked while in their place of duty while employers have a responsibility to protect all employees.
Lastly, we call on the Department of Health to provide Psycho-social therapy to the workers who got exposed to this traumatic incident. As crime is societal matter, we call on our communities to work hand in glove with the police and other law enforcement agencies to find the perpetrators as soon as possible so that they can be punished for this heinous crime.
END
Issued by NEHAWU Limpopo Secretariat Office
Moses Maubane [Provincial Secretary] 063 685 1884 or email: Moses@nehawu.org.za or
Jacob Adams [Provincial Deputy Secretary] at 082 558 5966 or email to Jacob@nehawu.org.za
email: lwazin@nehawu.org.za Visit https://www.nehawu.org.za
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