"THEY used to call us heroes and heroines on the frontline, but now they want to let us go."
These were the sentiments of a group of about 50 former Covid-19 volunteers who yesterday protested at the Ministry of Health and Social Services' head office in Windhoek, demanding permanent jobs.
The group members say their volunteering contracts were terminated in December last year. The Namibian has seen the vacancies by the health ministry dated 26 January calling for drivers and workhands (unskilled labour) among other casual work, with a Grade 12 requirement. In total, the ministry has called for 871 vacancies to be filled.
However, chairperson of the group Augustus Stephanus said when they were recruited in 2020, the ministry did not require qualifications, but they now require Grade 12.
"They just asked if you know how to read and write, and did oral interviews - especially for cleaners. Now they want a Grade 12 certificate," he claims. Stephanus also added that some of them do have Grade 12, but the majority don't.
The volunteers said their lives were put at risk by working on the Covid-19 frontline and working overtime and feel the government is excluding them.
One of the group members, Mariana Andjamba said they want the ministry to restructure its recruitment system based on the need for staff within regions.
"The few vacancies are not in favour of us, because the ministry is recruiting based on the availability of vacancies in the structure of each region, instead of recruiting based on the needs of each region where the majority of volunteers are based," she said.
Andjamba said Covid-19 volunteers have sacrificed their lives without being paid a danger allowance or being registered at the Social Security Commission.
"We served the country with our love and patience, and we sacrificed in the process. We lost our colleagues and family members to Covid-19 due to the negligence in our line ministry.
"They sent us to the forefront without any basic training to handle the pandemic. Secondly, they did not pay us a danger allowance, nor register us for social security," she said.
Andjamba said only eight vacancies are available in Khomas region with more than 115 volunteers.
Protester Sofia Muraranganda said they want the ministry to consider their grievances as a matter of urgency and facilitate the inclusion of all volunteers on the ministry's payroll.
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"The volunteers' management committee should monitor all the recruitment processes nationwide to ensure that posts benefit all volunteers.
"Human resources should not favour family and friends or discriminate. They should take serious action against the system," she said.
Muraranganda said they want the ministry to provide volunteers with a short-term contract until they are absorbed in the ministry permanently.
"The same as you have done with the veterans' children by recruiting them to different line ministries. We are requesting the same thing.
"We are veterans who served the nation with dignity and integrity, although we did not receive any moral support from our superiors.
"During the hard times of the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister did not even visit us at the mortuary or intensive care unit. They were also scared, or maybe they thought we had Covid," she said.
The group could be heard shouting that they saved people's lives without degrees, but now the ministry is demanding qualifications.
During the demonstration, the deputy executive director of health and social services, Jeremia Nghipundja, accepted the petition, saying he would share it with the relevant people in the ministry.
Efforts to get comment from health minister Kalumbi Shangula proved futile.
