The Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) has urgently called on the collective intervention by the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and the police to provide effective security for embattled, tormented and traumatised Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers.
This extends to operations personnel at Metrorail in the Cape Town region over the festive season and beyond, to ensure an interim and lasting action plan is implemented.
Fedusa’s call is contained in correspondence directed to Minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula and Minister of Labour Mildred Oliphant.
This comes after many attempts by its affiliates, the Health and Other Services Personnel of SA (Hospersa), the Public Servants Association (PSA) and the United National Transport Union (Untu) alongside many other unions operating in aggressive working environments; to enlist the help of provincial health authorities following endless attacks on EMS personnel and ambulances as well as the constant battlegrounds that Metrorail employees face on a daily basis.
Serious injuries and loss of lives, including that of an 8-year-old boy and two Untu members shot in the chest by armed robbers at Netreg station in recent weeks have fallen on deaf ears for far too long.
“We cannot hold our breath any longer or continue to pray for the recovery of our members who are under daily attack in their workplaces,” said Dennis George, Fedusa general secretary.
Communities are being held to ransom as a result of no provision of services during this time, when hotspot areas are deemed as red zones, resulting in total inaccessibility to the communities that members are required to render services to.
This will no longer be tolerated, as Fedusa insists that the deployment of the military health personnel to assist our EMS personnel as well as reinforced military backup and the redeployment of the railway police from December to end January when brutal attacks are at their worst levels.
Fedusa president Godfrey Selematsela will lead the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) march to Parliamenttoday at 11am, alongside general secretary Dennis George and the provincial leadership of thousands of Hospersa, PSA, Untu and all other Fedusa affiliated unions, under the slogan: #Workers’LivesMatter.
The march will end at the gates of Parliament where a memorandum of demands will be handed over to the three ministers to urgently address the dire security situation.
The march has been triggered by the unfortunate lack of action planning for the safety of EMS and other sector personnel over the period by government authorities, said George.
The Department of Labour remains the custodian of OHS, and Fedusa insists that Oliphant should enforce her legislative power and authority to demand that all government departments enforce proper health and safety measures in their respective workplaces, to assist EMS and transport personnel during the festive season in particular, when brutal attacks are at their worst levels.
Oliphant is bound by legislation to ensure that compliance is ensured not only in the private, but in particular in the public sector, where the worst transgressions are evident.
Fedusa is the largest politically non-aligned trade union federation in South Africa and represents a diverse membership from a variety of sectors in industry.