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SWADNU TAKES TO THE STREETS IN PROTEST OVER DRUG SHORTAGES,NURSES SHORTAGES,LACK OF SAFETY ETC.

 



SWADNU ENGAGES IN MASS PROTEST IN MBABANE OVER PERSONNEL AND MEDICINE SHORTAGES IN HEALTH FACILITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY
Picture: SWADNU President Welcome Mdluli standing with NAPSAWU President Oscar Nkambule at the petition delivery  on Friday ,03 June 2022 in Mbabane (Picture credit: SWADNU Facebook page)

Written by Fundizwi Sikhondze 

The Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) delivered a petition in at the Cabinet and Ministry of Health (MOH) offices in Mbabane on Friday 03 June 2021. The issues giving rise to the petition are the non-availability of nurses, the chronic lack of medicine in health care facilities around the country, the lack of security in health care facilities as well as the public’s right to quality public healthcare.

The petitions came after several months of their engaging the government and deriving no results from those engagements. For instance on Tuesday 26th April 2022 the leadership of the SWADNU, led by President Welcome Mdluli and Secretary General Mayibongwe Masangane, went to the Cabinet offices in Mbabane where they demanded to see the Prime Minister to brief him about the health crisis in the country. At that time the President of SWADNU was interviewed by the Times of Eswatini and said that 410 nurses had their fixed term contracts elapsing at the end of March 2022 and the government had not moved quickly to immediately renew them. He further added that besides the 400 plus nurses awaiting contract renewal at home there were other shortages of about 205 nurses due to retirement and death that the government was also failing to fill.

The president further said that they had continuously engaged the MOH on these issues however they had not seen concrete progress, in terms of implementation, from these engagements. It can be added that , judging from comments attributed to the MOH's Director of Health Dr Vusi Magagula on the Sunday Observer (May 29th) where SWADNU President Mdluli was decrying the fact that they were rehiring completely new people in the positions left vacant in March 2022 instead of rehiring the nurses whose contract elapsed in March 2022 as per engagements that had taken place with the government.

 Dr Magagula arrogantly stated that as far as they are concerned (as the MOH) they will hire as they please. He was quoted to have said “It is the prerogative of the employer to pick which employee to hire and of what calibre the employer wants”. Dr Magagula further refuted that their ministry had reached an agreement with SWADNU regarding engaging health workers on a permanent and pensionable basis after their fixed term contracts had elapsed.

In his address at the cabinet offices during the delivery of the petition President Welcome said nurses have now run out patience and can no longer hide the shame they feel about going to work only to write prescriptions for patients to go and purchase medication from the private pharmacies. Further ,repeating the allegation made previously, that there are health facilities that have had to stop operating because of the lack of personnel after fixed term contracts were not renewed beyond March 2022, when their fixed term contracts ended.  

The President, lastly, issued a promise that if their petition got ignored by the Prime Minister they will submit more come back to protest at the Prime Ministers' office  ,this time with the entire membership of SWADNU and NAPSAWU.

The petition delivery was also attended by the President of the National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) Oscar Nkambule together with other national as well as local leaders of NAPSAWU. In his address President Nkambule emphasised what was happening in the public sector was an injustice especially in the face of the recent announcement   that armed forces will be recruiting personnel soon. He then called for a people's government that will ensure that it prioritises the needs of public service instead of the needs of a few.

SWADNU Secretary General Mayibongwe Masangane read a petition with the workers demands. The petition was then handed to the representative of the Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's office and another petition was handed over to the MOH.

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