TAC supports the National Shutdown protest
Johannesburg, 21 August 2022 – On 24 August 2022, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) will join with the Trade Union Federations, other progressive forces, and the country at large in a national shutdown protest. We firmly stand with the working class and other civil society organisations that will be taking part in the mass action. The continued austerity measures by the government and the ongoing harsh standards of living have necessitated this action.
We share the sentiments by SAFTU and its allies that: “The country is marching towards a precipice, and if the working class is not organised around a programme, and even an organ, it will be used by intra-factions of capitalism for their own end.”
“The struggle to ensure substantive equality for all is one that we are committed to as TAC. This includes the struggle to fix the broken healthcare system. This is the noble cause that we cannot betray. We call on all TAC members to support this call and engage in peaceful protest,” said TAC General Secretary, Anele Yawa.
The struggle for the right to quality healthcare is at a critical juncture. The vast majority of people in South Africa are reliant on the public healthcare system. It’s an ailing system that at its best is under-resourced; at its worst it is severely dysfunctional. TAC is using community-led monitoring through Ritshidze to document and expose health system crises at a local level in order to turnaround the situation in the public healthcare system.
Through our monitoring we have exposed how often people start queueing outside clinic gates as early as 4am, only to wait all day, and in some cases never be seen. They get to the clinic, only to be sent home empty-handed without the medicines they need. Nurses are overworked and under-resourced. They shout at people. People wait in overcrowded waiting rooms — or sit outside without shade or seats, even the elderly or sick. When they eventually get seen, in some clinics there is no privacy and other people can see or hear their consultations. People who are late for appointments are sent to the back of the queue. Staff are openly hostile to people who use drugs, sex workers, and LGBTQIA+ communities — sometimes refusing people any services. Buildings are old and falling apart, with dirty or pit latrine toilets. Equipment is missing or broken. Files take hours to find or go missing altogether. People get TB because no one checks for TB symptoms or gives out masks to those coughing. The clinic committees that people rely on to solve these problems either don’t exist or don’t know what they should do. Our clinics are in crisis.
Details of the March:
Date: Wednesday 24 August 2022
Assembly point: Burgers Park to Union Buildings, Pretoria
Assembly time: 6:00AM
For media engagement, please contact:
Xabisa Qwabe (Communications Officer): 076 850 6736 or via email: xabisa.qwabe@tac.org.za
