Durban - The Public and Allied Workers’ Union of SA (Pawusa) met with the Health MEC’s office to discuss a way forward, after Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street mortuary workers returned to work after downing tools on Monday.
Operations at the mortuary were back to normal on Tuesday with bodies being fetched from the morning.
According to Pawusa chairperson Halalisani Gumede, workers went on strike because they were provoked by a manager, who made decisions which could instigate violence.
One of these was the imminent hiring of a former employee who allegedly victimised workers, he said.
“We don’t need added stress while we are trying to sort out the backlog (of bodies to be processed),” Gumede said.
“But for now her appointment has been stopped.”
He said there were more than 40 new and old bodies that workers needed to attend to at the mortuary.
“We will give the MEC a chance and she has our 100% support. Maybe she will tackle our issues better,” he said.
“We care about the people, but management provokes us,” said Gumede.
The department spokesperson Noluthando Nkosi said MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu was pleased that operations at the mortuary had returned to normal.
“The department sent out a representative to meet with shop stewards at the facility and the issues that had led to the go-slow have since been resolved,” Nkosi said.
She said the department apologised to all the families affected during the go-slow.
Last month, the Daily News reported that the mortuary was facing a backlog in processing bodies, which led to families not being able to bury their relatives.