SAMHS at 59 hospitals

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The South African Military Health Service (SAMHS) is this morning deployed at 59 hospitals in 8 provinces. The military health service is assisting patients at 13 hospitals in Mpumalanga and in Gauteng, seven in the North West, six each in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, nine in Limpopo three in the Eastern Cape and two in the Northern Cape.

The Department of Defence’s head of communication, Siphiwe Dlamini has said that depending on the request, a medical team may consist of doctors, nurses and emergency health care practitioners known as “ops medics”. The SAMHS has also deploying personnel to assist with the cleaning of the hospitals.

Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu on Sunday said some 3500 military personnel were deployed. In addition to medical staff infantry have also been deployed to provide perimeter security and access control. Public service strikes in SA tend to be violent with intimidation and other acts of callousness common.

The current deployment is the third since June 2007. In June-July 2007, the SAMHS deployed about 2500 personnel to over 80 hospitals in all nine provinces during a bitter nurses’ strike. The effort, dubbed Operation Human/Bata, received great public acclaim at the time. In June-July last year, the SAMHS deployed over 500 medics as part of Operation Human/Bata 2 in KZN, Gauteng, the Free State, the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

In Gauteng, the SAMHS is now deployed at the Natalspruit, Chris Hani Baragwanath, Helen Joseph, Kalafong, George Mukhari, Steve Biko, Tshwane District, Mamelodi, Rahima Moosa Mother and Child, Tembisa, Pretoria West, Heidelberg hospitals and Weskoppies hospital.

In the North West, the SAMHS are at the Brits, Bophelong (Mafikeng), Rustenburg/JT Tabane, Vryburg and Schweizer-Reineke, Odi and Potchefstroom hospitals.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the SAMHS are at the King Edward VIII, Mahatma Ghandi Memorial, Prince Mshiyeni, Stanger, Chief Albert Luthuli and Dundee hospitals.

In the Eastern Cape, the SAMHS are at the Dora Nzinga, Livingstone and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals.

In Limpopo, the SAMHS are at the Van Velden, Polokwane, Jane Furse, St Rita’s, Maphutha-Malatji and Lephalale, Helen Franz, Letaba, Elim, Lebowakgomo hospitals.

In Mpumalanga, the SAMHS are deployed at Witbank, Tonga, KwaMhalanga, Mapulaneng, Rob Ferreira, Ermelo, Themba, Barberton, Lydenburg, Middelburg, Embhuleni, Amajuba and Sabie hospitals.

In the Free State, the SAMHS are deployed at the Bongani, Katlego, Pelonomi, Boitumelo, Manapo and National hospitals.

In the Northern Cape, the SAMHS are deployed at the Kimberley and Gordonia hospitals. The Western Cape still remains the only province which is not recieving assistance.

Dlamini adds that to assist non-striking health care workers at hospitals the Department of Defence has created a toll-free number where they can report intimidation incidents when they are threatened. The number that people can dial is 0800 86 44 69.

Meanwhile, the Labour Court in Johannesburg has granted the defence, prisons and police departments interdicts against public service strikers and unions. The police and prisons departments have obtained interdicts preventing Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union members employed in the Department of Correctional Services or in the police from striking. “POPCRU, its officials and members of POPCRU are interdicted from promoting, encouraging or supporting participation in a strike by all employees of correctional services,” acting national prisons commissioner Siphiwe Sokhela said in a statement last week.

The police Thursday morning obtained a similar interdict against POPCRU, preventing them from inciting their members to join a two-week old civil service strike. The police are regarded an essential service, as are health staff, who have ignored labour law on the matter. Dlamini Thursday also dismissed claims that military personnel will be joining the strike. It was reacting to reports to that effect in the day’s media. “These media reports are not true. The SANDF is continuing to provide support to government in line with the Constitution and the Defence Act”, he said.

The DoD HoC added the “SANDF is a responsible organisation and its members would not break the law or undermine the very Constitution they are supposed to defend. Therefore members of the SANDF will not join the strike as doing so will be going against the prescripts of the Constitution and the Defence Act.”

News24 reported SA National Defence Union (SANDU) spokesman Jeff Dubazana said the “problem is, if this problem [the public sector strike] is not solved, there’s a possibility that we might be seen as scab labour. We are not going to allow our workers to be seen in that particular fashion. That is why we are planning action.” The military is however specifically excluded from the Labour Relations Act that governs industrial action. Any strike action would thus be necessarily unprotected and unlawful. The reports also come exactly a year after a riotous mutiny at the Union Buildings by SANDU in support of better pay and service conditions.

President Jacob Zuma has since doubled the pay of the lowest paid soldiers. Zuma and defence and military veterans minister Lindiwe Sisulu also announced an intent to de-unionise the military. Sisulu also announced a new dispensation for the armed forces, a commission to better service conditions and legislative changes. These are currently before Parliament.

Reacting to SANDU’s threat, and another by the SA Security Forces Union to the same effect, the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party Sunday called on Sisulu to “urgently” begin the de-unionising of the SANDF. Sisulu’s defence shadow, David Maynier, said the “defence force have been absolute champions during the public service strike. The military – including doctors, nurses and ops medics – have plugged the health service gap left by striking workers in more than fifty hospitals.”

In a statement he reminded that the president of the SASFU, Bheki Mvovo last week called for “actions in solidarity” of striking workers and criticised the use of SANDF personnel, looking after premature babies and the critically ill, as “scab labour” in hospitals.
“Not only could these actions seriously disrupt and cause complete chaos in the health services being provided during the public sector strike at public hospitals across South Africa, but it is also completely unacceptable for professional military personnel to be engaging in protest action, as it undermines the chain of command. We would not want a repeat of the Union Buildings incident,” he said in reference to a mutinous riot by – depending on source – 1000 to 3000 members of the rival SA National Defence Union over pay and service conditions a year ago last Thursday.

Maynier notes Mvovo “is a serving military officer – holding the rank of Lieutenant Commander – in the South African Navy (SAN). However, he has publically called for the dismissal of Chief of the South African Navy Vice Admiral Refiloe Mudimu; publically accused the minister … of having “dictatorial tendencies”; in the past reportedly threatened that military doctors and nurses would join industrial action; and recently presented a joint statement on defence legislation in parliament with Cosatu which raises serious questions about whether SASFU are in fact affiliated or associated with Cosatu in contravention of defence force regulations.”

The DA MP says that “is why the defence department were forced to secure an interdict against … Mvovo which instructs him to ‘desist from making inflammatory statements intended to incite mutiny, revolt and illegal behaviour’.” He did not say when the DoD obtained the interdict, but continuous that the “behaviour of … Mvovo and SASFU make a very persuasive case to de-unionise the defence force. The fact is that the military cannot have two bosses in the form of President Jacob Zuma, who is the commander-in-chief of the defence force, and to Zwelinzima Vavi, who appears to be the commander in chief, of SASFU.
“President … Zuma was clear about government’s position on military unions at Cosatu’s 10th National Congress on September 21, 2009. He said that government ‘took a position in favour of the deunionisation of the military’. However, the minister … seems to have developed a serious case of political cold feet and has done nothing in the past eleven months to begin the process of de-unionising the defence force. The Secretary of Defence, Mpumi Mpofu, recently confirmed that there had been no directive from the minister … on military unions. This has in effect undermined President … Zuma’s position on the de-unionisation of the defence force.”

Sisulu has meanwhile said the letters and calls from South Africans “from across all spectrum extending their message of appreciation shows that the whole country appreciate and value the presence of SANDF teams that are not only providing medical relief but providing protection and security in hospitals.”

She noted that by yesterday over 3500 soldiers were deployed at 57 hospitals on request of the Minister of Health. “As instructed by the Commander-in-Chief, President Jacob Zuma and the Cabinet all divisions of the SANDF are on standby and ready to deal with any emergency, we are ready and up to the task.”

Responding to comments that the SANDF might be over stretched, she said the SANDF is a disciplined and well organised force of international reputation. “The SANDF was deployed for the world cup, we are currently deployed in the border, we just finished an operation with the SAPS to stop intimidation of foreign nations, within twenty four hours of approval granted the SANDF was deploying in hospitals, we are always ready and very capable.
“Our soldiers deployed and those on standby must know that their government and all South Africans appreciate and value the work that they are doing, many lives would have been lost if it was not of the SANDF, many health workers who did not want to strike but to help patients would have been intimidated, but the presence of the SANDF prevented this, and the leadership of the SANDF and all soldiers must be very proud of what they are doing for their country, Sisulu added.

The minister added that those who are on strike must not intimidate those who are not striking. “As we respect the rights of others to strike, they in return must respect the rights of other not to, as law enforcement agencies we will respond appropriately to all reports of intimidation, the lives of our people takes priority.”