KwaZulu-Natal is in some ways a gaping wound. In addition to the two years of pandemic trauma that the country experienced, residents of that province have also been hit by the July riots, floods which claimed hundreds of lives and intermittent political violence.
Like a new injury to an already exposed wound, the Phoenix mortuary is reportedly spilling over, with some bodies lying unclaimed on the floor.
Members of the National Union of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) have also complained of not being provided with adequate protective clothing, blocked drainage systems and no chemicals to disinfect the mortuary.
The situation could easily result in a human rights lawsuit for the KZN health department, which puts staff to work in unsavoury conditions. Union representatives who spoke to TimesLIVE Premium say they met the health department a month ago. Employers have a legal requirement to provide a safe working environment, limit hazards to staff and ensure equipment is properly serviced.
The situation could easily result in a human rights lawsuit for the KZN health department, which puts staff in unsavoury working conditions.
This is not just a requirement for those in the private sector but for government too, who should be leading from the front. Often the government is taken to court over noncompliance with the very same laws it is meant to uphold, and often it loses these cases. These cases are not lost because the courts hate government, but rather because government repeatedly fails to adhere to its own laws.
While health workers in SA have to a certain extent become accustomed to working under strained conditions, nobody should be forced to work without PPE or with the smell of decomposing bodies in the air. The recent Covid-19 pandemic taught us all about the importance of appropriate protective gear, and the lessons of the pandemic should not be cast away.
The government has a responsibility to ensure human dignity is upheld. This does not suddenly come to an end when people die, and the fact that bodies are strewn on the floor of a mortuary is an indictment of the KZN health department and its leaders. Even if the deceased are yet to be claimed by their families, a pauper’s burial would be preferable to months in an overflowing mortuary. Their dignity should be respected and protected.
