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RFM WORKERS ON GO-SLOW, PATIENTS EXPERIENCE SLOW SERVICE

By KWANELE SIBIYA | 2025-02-27

Some locals who went to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital yesterday to seek health services were dejected as workers at the institution had allegedly resolved to engage on a go-slow strike over unpaid February salaries.

According to a highly placed source, the workers’ initial payday is the 23rd monthly.
This, according to the source, implies that they were supposed to be paid on Friday.

It is said when their payday falls on a Sunday as was the case this month; they were normally paid on the Friday preceding that particular Sunday.
By Tuesday, they were still not paid.

As a result, the health workers threatened to either engage on a go-slow or down their tools if the situation persisted.

Even though the health workers reported for work, they are alleged to have deliberately worked at a slow pace than usual to pressure their employer into meeting their demands regarding their pay.

According to one of the staff workers, who preferred anonymity, this came after the workers representatives met with management at around 0800 hours wherein they were informed that the workers would receive their salaries late in the afternoon.

The health workers representatives are said to have conveyed the message to their colleagues. upon learning about these new developments, the health workers resolved to engage on the go-slow until their salaries were paid.

As a result, many patients were stranded as they were not properly attended to for a lengthy period of time.

Some of the patients who also preferred anonymity confirmed that they experienced slower services than normal. One of the patients said she arrived at the hospital at around 6am, however, by 12pm she had not been attended to.

This, according to the patient, brought an unbearable inconvenience to her as she had severe pains that warranted urgent medical attention.

Another patient said apart from the pain he was feeling at the time due his ailment, hunger worsened his situation.

According to the male patient, he was of the view that he would receive his medical treatment and then go back home quickly to find something to eat as he did not carry any money with him, but as a result of the go-slow, he found himself spending more than eight hours at the hospital and as such, he was starving.

Contrary to what the health workers said regarding the go-slow, RFM Chief Executive Officer Mazwi Mavuso refuted such claims but insisted that operations were normal.

He said they held a meeting with the employees representatives at around 9am, where they assured them that workers would start receiving their salaries by the afternoon.

He pointed out that after assuring the representatives, they reverted to their colleagues about the outcome of the meeting and thereafter, they (healthcare workers) went back to work and operations continued normally.

However, according to Mavuso, some of the health workers took pictures and sent them to the media personnel, purporting to be engaging on a go-slow strike.

Mavuso further mentioned that true to their word, the workers began receiving their salaries late in the afternoon and those who would not have received theirs would be getting paid today. On Tuesday, Mavuso confirmed that the RFM employees had not received their salaries.

He said the employees were supposed to receive their salaries on Friday since their initial payday fell on a Sunday this month.

The reason salaries were delayed according to Mavuso was because the hospital relied heavily on government subvention for the payment of the salaries.

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