Go-Slow at Hospital After CEO Suspended

CEO Mziyanda Tshaka at Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital has returned to work after a brief suspension.

This week, workers at Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Regional Hospital in Bizana, Eastern Cape, demanded the return of the hospital’s CEO, apparently suspended since last week. By Thursday the CEO had returned to work, according to DENOSA Eastern Cape Secretary Veli Sinqana.

Sinqana said CEO Mziyanda Tshaka was suspended after a letter, ostensibly signed by him, did the rounds, informing patients of an acute shortage of doctors that would leave the hospital without any doctors on certain days.

The Eastern Cape Department of Health described the letter as “fake news”, saying that there are 16 doctors at the hospital, no days without doctors, and the department had been recruiting medical officers in “anticipation of the facility becoming a regional hospital”. It said appropriate action would be taken against anyone found to be responsible for the “malicious document”.

When we visited the hospital on Monday, workers were singing in the corridors. Patients waiting at reception were unattended. We found no nurses in the male wards. Patients told us workers had stopped at 10am and started singing.

Sinqana said the singing and chanting was not a strike; workers just sing because they are waiting to be addressed by the CEO. He said staff learned of the suspension when the CEO did not pitch up to a scheduled meeting.

A statement signed by unions PSA, NEHAWU, DENOSA and NUPSAW said, “We worked with our CEO throughout the year with good relations with his office.”

It said the CEO’s letter gave “the true state” of the hospital.

A nurse said the CEO’s letter was sent after doctors, in solidarity with the many unemployed doctors, had refused to put in extra hours. They also complained about not being paid for extra hours.

“We had only two doctors and both worked during the day. At night, we would call them only when there’s an emergency,” she said.

Last Friday, GroundUp spent several hours at the hospital and only saw two doctors.

Resident Phelokazi Madikizela said her son was admitted from 6 to 10 January. There was only one doctor all that time. “You would see that he is exhausted, but still pushing. At night there was no doctor,” she said.

She said there were issues with water and electricity, and patients were referred to other hospitals.

GroundUp tried all week to get answers from the department.

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