MBIKWAKHE: Thabo Dlamini, a former Times of eSwatini journalist and resident of Mbikwakhe has confirmed that nurses working for the Alliance Church clinic in the area are on strike.
Speaking to this Swaziland News on Wednesday Dlamini said, patients were not receiving services when visiting the health facility.
”Patients are not receiving services and when I enquired from the nurses, they told me, they haven’t received their January 2024 salaries,” said the journalist.
Efforts to reach the Management of the Alliance Clinics proved unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
But a nurse who spoke to this publication on Thursday morning confirmed that, they were still waiting for their salaries as Alliance Clinics health workers.
”It’s true that we haven’t received our salaries and when we asked the administrators, they told us Government did not pay the subvention to all mission health institutions”, said the nurse.
A questionnaire was sent to Mduduzi Matsebula,the Minister of Health, however,he had not responded at the time of compiling this report.
Reached for comments,Mayibongwe Masangwane, the Secretary General(SG) of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union(SWADNU) described the challenges faced by the health workers within Alliance Clinics as unfortunate particularly at the time when parents “are in need of monies” for schools fees.
“This is an unfortunate situation and extremely bad for the staff. January is the toughest month when a lot of people are required to pay school fees for their children. No worker deserve such treatment after providing his or her services to the employer. It is government's responsibility to provide health to the populace and when missionary health institutions are struggling government should subvert them.We condemn the act by government and the employer in the strongest possible terms”,said the Nurses Union Secretary General.
Mbikwakhe Alliance Clinic.