According to Nupsaw general secretary Solly Malema, the union was “instrumental” in the 2014 deal that got the KZN health department torecognise CHWs as contract employees, who are eligible for standard benefits, instead of volunteersThat case, he says, set the groundwork for getting CHWs registered on the government’s salary system instead of their being employed by NGOs, and so strengthened their negotiation power to get the 2018 collective agreement signed.
Malema says they will continue to fight in the Western Cape, where CHWs are still employed by NGOs, because “they’re behaving like a federal state”.by the labour department into the wages and employment conditions of CHWs, Malema explains that having a set minimum wage for CHWs will block any chance of their becoming insourced.
He continues: “CHWs are public servants, and they must enjoy all the same benefits as public servants [like in Gauteng]. That’s the route we want to go, not this minimum wage process.”, CHWs help carry the load through, which means they take on some of the easier but time-consuming jobs of professional health workers .