Western Cape Health and Wellness MEC Nomafrench Mbombo says the recent province-wide strike has had a severe impact on several public facilities.
Mbombo told the members of the provincial legislature last week, that some facilities have been working at reduced capacity.
The stay-away, which was marred by violence, ended last week Thursday.
That’s because a number of workers were unable to get to work, due to the violent protests.
The Tygerberg and Red Cross Children’s Hospitals were without 120 and 10 nurses respectively.
Meanwhile, the Nolungile Community Health Centre in Khayelitsha became a target for arsonists and vandals.
Mbombo says the strike took its toll on the staff.
“Those who have been able to get to work have been working without a moment to spare, just imagine a 12-hour shift every day since the strike started. At the number of these facilities, the nurses had to sleep at these facilities. This means they had to leave their families and must sleep at the hospitals”.
Meanwhile, Western Cape Education authorities are expecting all pupils in the province back in the classroom on Monday morning.
The department says due to the recent province-wide strike, there has been a high number of learner and teacher absenteeism.
At the height of the stay-away, over 850 000 pupils had to stay at home.
While over 17 000 staff members were also unable to reach schools.
Education MEC David Maynier says pupils can’t miss further teaching and learning time.
“We know this has been a challenging time, but now that the taxi strike has been called off, we must get our children back to school, and so we appeal to parents: please work with us and ensure that your children go back to school. We simply cannot afford to lose one more day of teaching and learning at our schools in the Western Cape”.
