“It is time for organizations working in the health sector to unite and arrest the appalling state of Community Health Care services in the Northern Cape”

 The two Northern Cape government departments, the Department of Health and the Department of Social Development provide funding to close to 100 Non-Government Organisations annually and these NGOs are subsequently responsible for the total employment of approximately 5000 young and vulnerable people, mostly women, who are classified under the Extended Public Works Program as Community Health Care workers.

In an endeavour to address the high unemployment rate in the country, the ANC government has been using this flagship program since the 2004 election, as a propaganda strategy to absorb out-of-school youth and the majority of the underemployed, who have fallen victims to the high South African unemployment rate.

The Health Care workers are responsible for elementary health care services in their communities, ranging from chronic to the life style diseases (i.e. conducting HIV and AIDS testing, dispensing of Anti- Retroviral Treatment, tracking those who have absconded from treatment and making sure that people living with HIV and AIDS takes this medication religiously).  These are important services. Without the Health Care workers, the whole Health Care system will collapse. The question to be asked is: Is the Government taking this sector seriously? The state of this sector, which is notoriously disorganised, leaves much to be desired. There is chronic unaccountability in both government departments in the development of this sector.

The Health Care Workers, the majority of them being vulnerable women, are being exposed to dangerous working conditions. The Occupational Health and Safety Standards are therefore disregarded. Some of them are in danger of contracting tuberculosis and in worst case scenarios, being exposed to HIV and AIDS.

At the health facility level, chronic shortages of staff lead to Health Care Workers assuming most of the responsibilities without the supervision of health professionals. Let  us consider that to be a Health Care Worker, you need at most a short course of about four weeks in contrast to the professional nurse who has undergone an intensive four year training for a nursing diploma. Just to quote one of the Health Care workers who chose to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation: “Some months, especially towards the end of the financial year we are expected to work for an extended period of time without a stipend, and in most cases we use this money for travelling and in other cases to feed our poor clients”.

When the time arrives for the ANC government to report on the progress made towards addressing unemployment in the country, this batch of unskilled and vulnerable youth are counted amongst those whom the government regards as beneficiaries of so-called employment opportunities created by the state.

The only viable solution, we can think of now is for organisations working in the health sector to unite in a form of an NGO forum, as they are not recognised by unions as employees. They can then confront the challenges facing them and stop working in isolation.