Frustrated and at their wits’ end, the cleaning staff at the Newcastle Provincial Hospital staged a walkout this week, citing allegations of corruption and unsafe working conditions at the mother-and-child healthcare facility.
Employees report being forced to work under unreasonable conditions, including months-long delays in salary payments, while hospital management allegedly threatened staff employment when concerns were raised.
Picketing outside the hospital, one staff member explained:
“I have worked for the company since 2013, and over the years, and despite signing a contract with the company, I do not receive UIF, nor have I ever received a payslip, and the company also owes myself and other staff members nine years of backpay in bonuses.” She chose to remain anonymous out of fear of victimisation.
However, she further added that staff are compelled to provide their own uniforms, as the company refuses to supply them. “While we should not have to pay for our uniforms, to make things worse, there are months where we do not even receive our salaries. In fact, we have not received our salaries again for the last three months,” she said.
Another employee, who has worked for the company since 2017, claimed that the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) exposes staff to unnecessary health risks.
“We have approached the owner of the company (contracted to the hospital), but this has not helped, and when we approached the hospital’s management about the numerous issues we faced, we were told that we should get back to work, or the security would physically throw us out of the premises,” she stressed.
Staff members also raised concerns about the company’s ownership. “We never actually see him, with the hospital managing the running of our work at the facility, and we want to know who really runs the business, and what stake did the KZN Health Department and the Hospital have in the company,” said an irate cleaner.
Nozulu Nyamende, from the South Africa is Not For Sale Workers Union (SANFOSAWU), which represents workers across multiple sectors, said the issues are longstanding. According to Nyamende, the facility now exhibits visible signs of neglect as a direct result of how cleaning staff have been treated.
“We (SANFOSAWU) and staff members met with the Hospital’s management team in August 2025, due to the fact that the company was failing to pay the staff, despite the fact that the hospital had paid for its services. Also, there are staff members who are owed backpay monies for nine years already, and we now want to know steps are being taken to resolve the matter, and why the company is able to do this, without the Hospital or KZN Health Department doing anything at all to rectify the situation,” he said.
Following these concerns, the cleaning staff and SANFOSAWU met with hospital management on Tuesday afternoon, 4 November 2025, demanding accountability and clarity on why the company appears to be protected.
The meeting included union representatives, employees, hospital management, and officials from the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, who will now investigate the matter further.
Moreover, it was noted that the staff would finally be receiving their salaries on Friday, 7 November 2025, despite already waiting three months for it already.
As the issue undergoes investigation, Newcastillian News contacted Newcastle Provincial Hospital for comment. Public Relations Officer Sabelo Buthelezi stated, “We cannot comment on the matter at this time, as the matter needs to be investigated.”
In conclusion, while the immediate salary issue is set to be resolved, the Newcastle Provincial Hospital incident underscores the urgent need for transparency, accountability, and proper oversight in outsourced hospital services.
The ongoing investigation by hospital management and the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature will be pivotal in addressing deeper systemic concerns and ensuring that staff are treated fairly, while safeguarding the quality of care within the facility.
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2 Responses
The reason they hiding the owner of the company is because one of the management is part taking in this contract and if it was any other contracts doing this they were gonna end that contract with immediate effect.
The owner must know that employees are the ones who carry out all the work and they go through a lot, this is hard work, they deserve to be treated as humans, be appreciated and the thankful to them, show your support they are also human, they have responsibilities also
Sub contractor appointed get paid before hand or intime but, does not pay his persona, PPE’s are the contractor responsibility and Hospital management should ensure all worker are safe and fully equipped with PPE’s, this requirement by law. I do not understand why no action been taken against this Contactor for not paying his personal and does not adhere to safety issues.