Striking forensic pathology workers must return to work

Striking forensic pathology workers in Gauteng have to return to work after a court granted an interdict against the strike.

Forensic pathology officers‚ largely from the Germiston facility‚ were striking over a bonus dispute and alleged unfulfilled promises after their strike in June last year. The striking employees are demanding payment of performance bonuses for the 2016 and 2017 financial years.

The Gauteng Department of Health applied for a court interdict on Thursday. The interdict was served on Friday which ordered officials to go back to work with “immediate effect”.

“This enabled the families who wanted to bury their loved ones over the weekend to do so‚” the department said in a statement.

DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom previously told TimesLIVE there were 65 bodies piled up at the Germiston mortuary because of the strike.

Bloom mentioned the case of Naledzani Netshikulwe‚ who contacted him.

Netshikulwe had been desperately trying to get the body of his nephew who died on March 8.

“As a family we need to collect the body‚ do the death certificate and then book the burial sites‚ but we can’t without postmortem results‚” said Netshikulwe.

The striking forensic pathology workers are members of the trade unions Denosa‚ Nehawu‚ PSA‚ Hospersa and Nupsaw.

They previously said: “We hope communities will understand that the action to shut down will be our last resort and the only language that government has come to understand‚ unfortunately.”