adminLiberty Dube
A TOTAL of 52 nurses at the council-run Sakubva District Hospital last Friday downed their tools over non-payment of outstanding salaries, leaving scores of patients from Sakubva and other suburbs stranded.
The strike saw close to 100 patients, among them pregnant women and those on Anti-Retroviral Treatment demanding for services from the hospital authorities who locked themselves inside the hospital.
When The Manica Post visited the hospital premises last Friday, impatient and desperate patients were seen roaming around the hospital.
The nurses have reportedly gone for several months without receiving their salaries.
In an interview, one of the nurses who requested anonymity, said the council officials had let them down.
“We don’t have any motivation. We can’t work under such difficult conditions.
“We need our dues. They should consider us. We haven’t received our salaries as well as transport allowances. We will not go back to work until we receive our outstanding salaries,” she said.
Disgruntled patients interviewed said the nurses turned them away saying they had downed their tools.
“We were surprised to come here only to be told to go back home.
“I usually collect my pills here and I am stranded,” said one disgruntled patient on ART.
Said another patient: “There are punishing us. We don’t deserve this. The nurses should consider us.”
Mutare mayor, Councillor Tatenda Nhamarare, said the local authority was still negotiating with the nurses persuading them to return to work.
(See picture on page 1).
Online Reporter