Durban - The killing of Thandazile Buthelezi, who worked as a security guard at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in uMlazi, has doctors, nurses and support staff fearing for their lives.
Buthelezi, 46, was killed while she was on her way home from work on Thursday morning.
It is claimed that she was killed for working for an outsourced security company, Imbodla Security Services, while her colleagues were on strike.
The owner of Imbodla, Mike Gumede, said: “I allowed my employees to work because the striking workers said they had no problem with us working there and the hospital needed us. I was shocked when Thandizile was shot,” he said.
Gumede said he received a letter from the hospital on Friday telling him to cease his services for now.
Describing Buthelezi, Gumede said: “She was a hard- working individual whom I always relied on. I fail to understand why people will resort to killing other people when they are at the negotiating table. Our country is deteriorating every minute. It’s sad,” he said.
The strike has been going on for more than a month and workers have vowed that they will not back down if the Department of Health in KZN does not heed their call of scrapping outsourcing.
While some workers were on strike, others worked in fear.
When the Sunday Tribune visited the hospital this week, there were three men in civilian clothes standing at the main entrance gate.
Under normal circumstances cars would be searched when entering and leaving the hospital, but this did not happen.
Reacting to the situation, health workers’ unions have since teamed up and urged the MEC for Health in KZN, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, to “show leadership and a sense of caring for the workers and community at large”.
“So far we have not seen responsible leadership; instead we have seen the worst in a deteriorating situation,” they said jointly.
Provincial deputy secretary of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), Mduduzi Chiyi said: “We raised the issue of security with the hospital management and the health department.
“Our members have been telling us that they don’t feel safe at the hospital, which affects their capacity to do their jobs,” he said.
The union has called for an urgent meeting with Dhlomo. Organised labour is also calling for the scrapping of outsourcing, saying it “cheats” workers out of decent jobs.
And while the Department of Health said the reasons for Buthelezi’s killing were “unknown”, Chiyi said it was a known fact that her killing was triggered by the issue of outsourcing, which the workers were against.
Her brother, Nkosi Buthelezi, 36, said the family was struggling to come to terms with her death.
“We want to see the perpetrators rot in jail. She was the breadwinner and now it’s going to be difficult for her child and grandchild to make ends meet,” he said.
Buthelezi will be buried on Saturday.
Buthelezi’s death follows that of Zimele Nzama, 38, also a security guard for Imbodla, who was shot dead at a government clinic in U-section in uMlazi. The assailants also killed a police officer. No one has been arrested.
Claiming to be leading the workers, the provincial secretary of the SA Liberated Public Sector Workers Union, Joe Sibiya, said they wanted security guards, cleaners and catering staff to be employed by government, not outsourced.
This has sparked tension among employees, with those on strike targeting those who work for private companies.
Sibiya said: “It’s unfair that there are some hospitals that have permanent security guards employed while other guards are employed by private companies. They do the same job but earn different salaries we want to put an end to this,” he said.
Despite the impasse, the hospital has continued to admit patients.
As yet, no arrests have been made in Buthelezi’s murder.
Dhlomo has condemned the killing. He said although the person killed was not employed by the department, she was nonetheless part of the family as her company was contracted to perform security service duties at one of the department’s facilities.
Sunday Tribune