A short picket at the Provincial Hospital in Gqeberha was meant to set the stage for a national march next week by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu).
Heightened security measures are set to be implemented at all health facilities in Nelson Mandela Bay after the assault of a nurse at the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital at the weekend, the latest in a string of recent criminal acts at hospitals and clinics.
Nursing staff who took to the streets over the nonpayment of salaries, among other complaints, have told of how they sometimes wait for patients to finish eating so they can take their leftovers.