Bara staff to march
2007-08-03 11:43
Johannesburg - A protest march against unsafe conditions for staff at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg on Friday afternoon.
A doctor, who asked not to be named, said the march was in response to the rape of a Wits medical student at the hospital on Monday.
Protesters would be marching from the Glen Thomas outpatients' building to the administration building at 12:45.
The protesters planned to hand over a memorandum to the CEO of the hospital, Arthur Manning, and a representative of the health MEC's office, the Baragwanath doctor said.
Statements would be made by an intern, a registrar, a nursing representative and a radiographer.
The doctor said protest posters had been distributed in the hospital asking for "safety to work, safety to learn".
Hospital staff had organised the march because they were dissatisfied with the safety measures at their workplace.
"We want the hospital to immediately effect effective security in the hospital," said the doctor.
"We won't accept this is a South African phenomenon. We are working in a hospital, we are not in a public domain."
The doctor said staff did not want to hear finances used as an excuse for not exacting safety measures. Staff would be happy to be involved in sorting out problems at the hospital.
The doctor said there had been a lot of "worried interest" in the protest by the hospital staff, university students involved at the hospital and the parents of the students working there.
On Friday police said the student who was raped had laid a charge against her alleged assailant.
Superintendent Thembi Nkwashu said the student gave a statement to the police late on Thursday afternoon and laid a charge of rape.
The girl said she was accosted on Monday by two men, and raped by one of them.
The rape apparently happened outside a blood bank in a secure area of the hospital. The girl had gone to the blood bank to complete an errand.
Earlier, 702 Eyewitness News reported that a Baragwanath senior lecturer was resigning after disputes over the safety of students following this week's rape.
702 Eyewitness News said Dr Moses Balabyeki had reported being threatened and insulted by his boss after telling his students not to return to the hospital facility if they did not feel safe.
Hospital CEO Manning told 702 News the latest clash between Balabyeki and his supervisor was part of a history of disagreements which he believed could be resolved.
- SAPA