NUPSAW welcomes the commitment made in the Minister of Health’s Budget Speech to permanently employ 27000 Community Health Care Workers (CHWs)
The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (NUPSAW) welcomes the commitment made in the Minister of Health’s Budget Speech to permanently employ 27000 Community Health Care Workers (CHWs). These individuals have served the department and our communities with distinction for almost two decades, despite being employed through NGOs under precarious conditions. This announcement represents a major breakthrough for thousands of CHWs who have long endured insecure working conditions without the benefits, protections, or recognition they deserve. For years, these workers have been the backbone of the public health system.
NUPSAW over the years has been consistently at the forefront of advocating for the permanent employment of Community Health Care Workers. We have actively championed the demand to insource the CHW’s and place them on the PERSAL system to ensure that they enjoy the same rights and job security as other public servants. NUPSAW is also a part of the community Health Care Workers Expert Working Group, where the department of health is in the process of developing a policy framework to standardize and professionalize the CHW employment. We are pushing for clear qualification pathways, including recognition of prior learning, collaboration with Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) to professionalize the CHW’s and end the outsourcing of this critical workforce to NGO’s, which has historically exploited workers.
This budget commitment vindicates the worker’s years of struggle, however we remain vigilant and we will continue to monitor the implementation of this commitment across all provinces to ensure that no CHW is left behind and that provinces such as the Western Cape, which has over the years resisted insourcing and behaved like a federal state are held accountable. We call on all stakeholders to work together and urgently finalize the implementation of the policy framework so that these workers can finally be permanently employed in decent, dignified jobs that strengthen our health system. We further salute all the CHW’s for waging a relentless fight against exploitation and austerity measures that has over the years threatened their livelihoods.
Yours in the workers’ struggle