Johannesburg — A DEAL sealed by Johannesburg's Metrobus drivers will soon have them earning more than junior doctors in the public sector.
After a month-long strike, Metrobus drivers agreed this week to a pay structure that will have senior bus drivers, with more than three years experience, earning R8800 a month. All they need are public driving permits.
Metrobus employees who are artisans will have starting salaries of R9466. Junior doctors, according to the United Doctors Forum, earn R8000 after six years of university study.
A labour law lecturer at the University of Pretoria, Ezette Gericke, said yesterday it was unfair that salary increases for doctors had been delayed.
"This is an absolute disgrace," she said. Phophi Ramathuba of the South African Medical Association said yesterday it was expected that more than 5000 public sector doctors in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal would today take part in marches demanding a 50% salary rise.
In Pretoria, a memorandum outlining the doctors' demands would be given to officials at the Department of Health. Ramathuba said private doctors would join the march in solidarity.
"Only 20% of public (sector) doctors would remain working in hospitals for emergency calls only," she said. "We have decided to march because the employer was not bringing anything positive in response to our demands", Ramathuba said.
"We are going to fight until we get better remuneration that would attract (back) our colleagues who have left the country for better payment overseas." Ramathuba said doctors' participation in an organised labour action was prohibited by law, but that they were allowed to picket during lunch time.
The Hospital Association of SA (Hasa ) which represents more than 90% of private hospitals in the country, said the interests of patients were of priority to them. Hasa CEO Kurt Worrall-Clare said that extra emergency personnel would be on standby in case private doctors joined the march.
"Though we were not informed of such intentions, we will make sure that there is enough emergency personnel and patients have adequate resources," he said.
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I believe that civil servants are the most neglected employees ever, how does the ministry of health justify paying doctors so little?? it does not even begin to cover basic needs, apart from being underpaid these poor people are forced to work under substandard conditions, where there are no facilities in hospitals. Should we take the delay in increasing their salaries as an indication of just how "highly" our government thinks of our doctors?? Is that how much they care about the public's health? No wonder the doctors are leaving this country in huge numbers, who would want to work such a rubbishy job and get peanuts for it? Look at how much an average graduate makes in the private sector with some 4 year degree, and look at the poor medics, this is an abomination to all South Africans, and while the ministry is at it, they should just sort out their administration as well, and work on keeping our SA doctors instead of getting us foreigners who can't even speak any of our languages.