Amathole water crisis plunges Eastern Cape health sector into chaos

The ongoing water crisis in the Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape has brought health services to its knees.

A wage dispute between the municipality and employees has thrown communities into crisis. It’s meant their taps have run dry for weeks.

This has a devastating impact on hospitals and clinics in the metro.

As the wage dispute rages on, interrupted water supply in the Amathole District Municipality has plunged health services into chaos.

The Eastern Cape Health Department’s Litha Matiwane said, “actually, it has been a very stressful period for us as the department of health in Amathole. Remember that Amathole has quite a number of hospitals, community centers and clinics and those were all affected by this shortage of water due to the strike that has been going on. The major area that was struck, one of our biggest hospitals which is Butterworth hospital, an area that was struck very hard.”

Matiwane says the water crisis has been devastating for the department’s budget.

She said, “We think it’s between 300 and 400 thousand that we have had to use to ensure that we mitigate this strike. So it has had an impact and you’d remember that the budget of the department of health is always under severe stress. And for us to move budget to other activities it actually adds on to the stress that we’re having.”

The wage dispute and resulting crisis comes on the back of a 6.2 percent increase that the municipality allegedly backed out of.

The Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union’s Mongezi Mabece said, “according to us, it was supposed to be resolved long time ago.”

“Remember we’re not talking about negotiations that are supposed to happen at a municipal level. These negotiations happened three years ago when we signed a collective agreement as IMATU and SAMU and SALGA, but strangely enough for Amathole District Municipality they’ve decided not to increase salaries for all the workers starting from 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.”

Striking staff are accused of sabotaging water infrastructure.

Macebe said, “yes the sabotage might be true but our members we have been resolute in our meetings that let’s go back to work, let’s not disrupt water because water very expensive commodity, especially for communities that we are serving.”

“Remember that ADM is serving rural communities where they don’t have water. They depend solely on municipal water. So they cannot afford to by water. So the sabotage might have happened from people that are anti-development.”

Efforts to get a response from the Amathole District Municipality has proved fruitless so far.

Source: eNCA

In other news – Sithelo Sithelo shows off her new set of teeth – South Africans react

Durban DJ Sithelo Shozi is taking care of herself and is not sparing any expense. It is without a doubt that the perks of being monied include having access to high-end dental care, and Sithelo spent her money where it matters.

The DJ has upgraded and purchased herself a new set of teeth in Turkey. Tweeps discovered this after she took to her Instagram account to flash her new set of teeth. Learn More