The union's leadership made the calls earlier this week. “BONU strongly believes that the Ministry harbours a discriminatory and negative attitude towards nurses and midwives. This perception is substantiated by the fact that the majority of the Ministry’s top management positions are dominated by a particular cadre, to the detriment of the nurses and midwives who constitute the bulk of the Ministry’s workforce. Any objective assessment of this perceived bias would conclude that it is “highly likely,” BONU president, Peter Baleseng said. Furthermore, he said nurses and midwives operate under constant threat of litigation, which results in the government losing significant amounts of money. He said consequently nurses have no choice but to protect themselves through the courts of law, as no other mechanisms are made available to them.
According, to the press release, despite repeated efforts to seek relief on these matters, their pleas consistently hit a brick wall. The BONU leadership said this appears to be a deliberate attempt to undermine nurses and midwives, as this has seemingly become an accepted norm within the Ministry. BONU said the situation has deteriorated further under the management of PS Professor Nkomazana and Dr. Ramotsababa. “Nurses are being sidelined with impunity. This is exemplified by the prolonged vacancy in the position of Director of Nursing and Midwifery Services ( DNMS) a critical role for the Nursing Profession,” he pointed out. They further pointed out that again nurses and midwives have had to seek relief from the courts of law, even on matters that could be resolved internally.
