Forensic officers back at work
The Gauteng MEC for Health, Ms Qedani Mahlangu wishes to assure the public that operations at all state Forensic Pathology Service facilities are back to normal; this is after Forensic Officers embarked on an unprotected industrial action on 01 December 2016 over their salaries.
The department applied for a court interdict which was granted on Saturday, 3 December 2016. In grating the interdict Labour Court Judge J Thlothlalemaje said:
“It is accepted that the right to strike is constitutionally entrenched. However, with this right comes responsibilities and obligations, which are set out in section 64 of the LRA [Labour Relations Act], for that strike to be deemed protected. The rights to human dignity, and to have one’s dignity respected and protected on the other hand as enshrined in the Constitution arise from our very existence as human beings, and more importantly from our concept of Ubuntu. No procedural requirements are necessary for the enforcements of such rights, and society as whole, is automatically expected to respect those rights without much thought.”
“Forensic Officers are now back at work. Post-mortems on all outstanding cases are being fast tracked accordingly. We have been interacting with them to resolve their issues, but we don’t condone disruption of service delivery,” said MEC Mahlangu.
The MEC also apologised for the inconvenience caused to the public while assuring that she wants the issues raised by Forensic Officers resolved speedily. It should also be noted that all Community Healthcare Workers have been paid their stipends for November, and for this month their stipends will be paid before December 23.
For more information please contact Spokesperson:
Steve Mabona
Cell: 072 574 3860
