The Eastern Cape Health Department has rejected claims by the Democratic Alliance that a salary dispute involving employees in its forensic pathology division had led to a situation where corpses were being left at accident scenes over the weekend.
DA MPL, Jane Crowley said in a statement that "since Friday last week, people declared dead at accident scenes in the Butterworth district and in the Buffalo City Metro have simply been left on the side of the road for hours."
She said according to the "striking workers", the overtime and standby allowances have not been paid since April this year, despite promises made by the Head of Department, Dr Thobile Mbengashe.
Cowley said the EC Department of Health has been forced to negotiate with private funeral parlours to collect the deceased from accident scenes while the "strike" continues, resulting in significant delays in retrieving the decaying corpses.
But, the Eastern Cape Health Department denied there was a "strike" as Cowley put it but did acknowledge that they are addressing the matter of overtime and stand-by allowances internally.
Department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said the DA had misunderstood their internal processes. "There is no strike as far as we are concerned. We are aware that the staff members have raised concerns relating to the allowances that they are entitled to which resulted in them withdrawing their service during the weekend.
Kupelo said this was an internal matter which was receiving attention.
"A special arrangement has been made for private funeral parlours to step in during the weekends while the Department tries to find an amicable solution to the issues that have been raised."
