200 Public Works youngsters booted from Pretoria hospitals

Bloom,-Jack200 young people doing maintenance work at Pretoria hospitals have been told that they will be out of a job at the end of March when their contracts expire.

These youngsters are paid a monthly stipend of R2400 as part of the Zivuseni Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) of the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development.

They do valuable maintenance work at the Steve Biko, Kalafong, Weskoppies, George Mukhari and Odi hospitals.

Most of them have been working at the hospitals since February last year and are bitterly disappointed that their three month contracts will not be renewed as happened previously.

It’s a pity that these young people are not trained to take up artisan posts at hospitals that desperately need skilled workers to fix deteriorating infrastructure.

The Zivuseni project in hospitals is too short-term to be meaningful and fails to equip with real skills.

I hope that the department reconsiders and extends the contracts of these young people.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222