GroundUp reports that scores of Community Health Workers affiliated to the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw) are demanding that they be employed permanently by the Eastern Cape Department of Health.

This call was highlighted once again at a march to the health offices in East London on Friday. The group’s memorandum, read out by Nupsaw’s Eastern Cape secretary Mzikazi Nkata, called for recognition and legitimacy of community health workers in the province. They also demanded proper protective wear such as gloves and uniforms as well as assurances for their safety as they worked in poor communities and areas with high rates of violence and crime. But the main demand was for the workers to be in-sourced by the health department, in order to “earn decent salaries which have improved their living conditions”. The memorandum was received by the Buffalo City Department of Health District Manager Mkhululi Nkohla, who promised to respond to representatives of Nupsaw within seven working days. Provincial department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said that matters raised in the group’s petition were currently before the National Bargaining Chamber. Kupelo also advised that the department had bought uniforms for all community health workers.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Johnnie Isaac at GroundUp

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