At a meeting last Friday, 6th of July, the Gauteng Health Department promised that the 6000-plus lay counsellors and home-based carers who have embarked on a strike over the non-payment of their R1 500 stipends since April will be paid from this week. The provincial health department’€™s Director of the HIV/AIDS unit, Dr Zukiswa Pinini, says the process of paying the workers has already begun.            

‘€œThe process is unfolding now and documents have been signed. The money will be transferred into the NGOs’€™ accounts within the next two weeks. And it’€™s for the past quarter ‘€“ April, May and June. There are plans that this kind of a thing won’€™t happen again. Our systems will be put in place to make sure that lay counsellors and care-givers are paid on time’€, Pinini says.              

In the meantime, she has requested that all lay counsellors and home-based care-givers return to work immediately. However, the workers are still on strike.

According to Pinini, ‘€œit was resolved in that meeting that whilst the Department is looking at all the challenges, they should go back to work. The next meeting we’€™ll have with them will be (on) the 4th of September. So, what’€™s happening now’€¦ that they are not going back’€¦ they are renegating (sic) on the agreement that we had with them, which is on record’€.

Counsellors have said they can’€™t go back to work because they don’€™t have transport money to get their posts. When asked how the department expects them to return to work, yet they are not getting paid, Pinini responded:

‘€œNo, we do understand that. The only thing is that there are processes we have to follow within the Department. That’€™s all that I can say’€.

So, it’€™s not a really fair request that you’€™re making that they return to work if they cannot get there? , we pressed further.

‘€œYes, it’€™s not a fair request’€, she answered. ‘€œBut with these circumstances, I think that was the solution that we could think of at that period of time. But, I think going forward, we’€™ll have a plan as a Department of what needs to happen in future and we are hoping that this will not happen ‘€“ the delay in the payments of the NGOs to pay the counsellors. We are hoping it’€™s not going to happen in future’€, Pinini continued.                

The vice-chairperson of the task team for counsellors in Gauteng, David Qacha, says they still have to consult with their members on whether to return to work or not.  

‘€œThat will be up to the masses to decide. Up to now these are only promising talks. But we still don’€™t have something tangible. That decision, definitely, will be up to the masses, maybe after the next two, three weeks or so, after the payments have been conducted’€, Qacha said.

Some of the counsellors have reported being intimidated and threatened with dismissals by health facility managers and non-governmental organisations they have been contracted with as a result of their participation in the strike. At last week’€™s meeting the Health Department said these reports will be investigated.

‘€œWe’€™ll investigate that. We don’€™t have a report like this. So, I can’€™t comment on that’€, said Pinini.

The lay counsellors’€™ task team’€™s David Qacha, says last week’€™s meeting took a resolution that the Health Department will instruct health facilities and non-governmental organisations that contract the services of counsellors to revoke any dismissals that might have occurred.      

‘€œThey are going to circulate an email to all the NGOs, facility managers and all that, to say that whoever has been dismissed let them be re-instated with immediate effect’€, according to Qacha.

Another member of the task team, Lucky Mokone, has appealed to public health patients to understand why counsellors are not rendering their services. Mokone has also appealed to the Gauteng Health Department to resolve the pay dispute as a matter of urgency.  

‘€œWe want to appeal to the community to understand the situation where we are now ‘€“ in terms of working without any payment, the hours that we are working and getting a stipend of R1 500 per month, which is nothing. When it comes to carers, it’€™s R1 200. It’€™s not even the transport money for the whole month. It doesn’€™t cover anything. So, we appeal to the community to say: Can you please bear with us? To the Department of Health, we say: Please speed up the process. Out of the promises they’€™ve made, let them come back with action so that, at least, community health workers can be able to go back to work. Honestly, even us as community health workers, we are so frustrated to sit at home while people are dying, people are in need’€, Mokone said.