On Monday, a court in South Africa issued an order for striking state healthcare workers to end their week-long walkout, which has had a detrimental impact on services in some of the country’s major hospitals.
According to a statement released by the health department on Sunday, NEHAWU members’ strike action came as a result of the failure of pay negotiations with the government. This has resulted in a low level of nursing and administrative support staff attendance and has hampered clinical operations.
The department stated on Monday that the court’s order would aid in stabilizing services at the impacted hospitals.
It was impossible to immediately reach union representatives for comment, But the union stated in a statement on Sunday that “no amount of lawsuit or intimidation by the government would discourage us from this beautiful honorable cause that we have embarked on”.