IHAWU

01/09/2026

IHAWU MEDIA STATEMENT

STRETFORD CYTOTEC THEFT: GAUTENG HEALTH MUST INVESTIGATE THE SYSTEM

IHAWU CALLS FOR AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO MEDICINE SECURITY, STAFFING AND EPWP DEPLOYMENT

1 September 2026

The Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (IHAWU) notes the arrest of three Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers in connection with the alleged theft and illegal sale of Cytotec from Stretford Community Health Centre in Orange Farm.

IHAWU condemns the theft and unauthorised sale of medicines intended for patients accessing lawful termination-of-pregnancy services. The matter must be investigated fully and prosecuted where evidence supports criminal charges.

However, the arrests must not be the end of the investigation. The Gauteng Department of Health must explain how EPWP workers allegedly gained access to Cytotec, a Schedule 4 medicine requiring controlled storage and authorised access.

The Department must establish:

• What duties were the arrested workers authorised to perform?
• Which areas of the facility could they access?
• Who controlled the medicine-room keys?
• Were access registers, stock reconciliations and proper medicine-security procedures in place?
• Were EPWP workers performing duties beyond their authorised roles because of staff shortages?

EPWP status does not create clinical or pharmaceutical authority. IHAWU is concerned that chronic understaffing is blurring the lines between support, administrative, clinical and pharmaceutical functions. This places patients, medicines and workers at risk.

The Department must also address the broader conditions facing EPWP workers. Many have served in public healthcare facilities for years while remaining in insecure, temporary employment with limited career progression. If reports of a pharmacy assistant remaining in an intern or temporary position for approximately 16 years and earning around R3,500 are accurate, the Department must explain how such exploitation was allowed to continue.

IHAWU does not condone theft, illegal medicine sales or the exploitation of women seeking healthcare services. At the same time, the Department cannot focus only on the alleged offenders while ignoring the system failures that may have made the incident possible.

We call for an independent investigation into:

1. Medicine access and security at Stretford Community Health Centre.
2. The chain of custody and stock reconciliation of Cytotec.
3. The duties and access rights of EPWP workers.
4. Staffing levels and possible breaches of scope of practice.
5. The Department’s treatment and career pathways for long-serving temporary workers.

Three arrests may address the criminal aspect of the matter, but they do not answer the governance, labour and patient-safety questions.

The public deserves to know not only who allegedly stole the medicine, but how the system allowed it to happen.

Protect the medicine. Protect the patients. Protect healthcare workers. Fix the system.

IHAWU – THE SHIELD OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS.

Issued by:
Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (IHAWU)

Contact Person(s)

Lerato Mthunzi | Rich Sicina
0658230082 | 0606821672
Malbourough House | 127 Fox Street | Marshalltown | Johannesburg | 2000
[email protected]
www.ihawu.org.za

23/08/2026

IHAWU WELCOMES STELLA NDABENI AS ACTING MINISTER OF HEALTH

The Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (IHAWU) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of Minister Stella Ndabeni as Acting Minister of Health during Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi’s period of sick leave.

We wish Minister Motsoaledi a speedy and full recovery. Illness must never become a political weapon, and we look forward to his return once he has fully recovered.

IHAWU also welcomes Minister Ndabeni to the health portfolio. Her experience across government, including her current work in Small Business Development, brings valuable perspectives on innovation, implementation, economic empowerment and unlocking opportunities for people.

We urge the Acting Minister to bring that same energy to healthcare, particularly in addressing the challenges confronting frontline workers: critical staff shortages, unsafe working conditions, workplace violence, inadequate resources, infrastructure failures and the growing pressure placed on healthcare workers.

Healthcare workers must be at the centre of rebuilding our health system. They are not merely employees of the state; they are the backbone of healthcare delivery.

IHAWU stands ready to engage constructively with the Acting Minister and will support every intervention that improves healthcare and protects workers. But as an independent union, we will also continue to speak truth to power where workers and patients are failed.

We welcome you, Minister Ndabeni. Listen to the workers. Protect the workers. Strengthen the health system.

ISSUED BY:

Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (IHAWU)
The Shield of Healthcare Workers.

Media Contacts:
Lerato Mthunzi
+27 65 823 0082
Rich Sicina
+27 60 682 1672

Marlborough House | 127 Fox Street | Marshalltown | Johannesburg
[email protected]
www.ihawu.org.za

19/08/2026

IHAWU MEDIA STATEMENT

IHAWU STANDS WITH THE KING DINUZULU HOSPITAL NURSE: WE WILL NOT ALLOW A HEALTHCARE WORKER TO BE CRUCIFIED BY SOCIAL MEDIA

The Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (IHAWU) has conducted an investigation into the viral video involving an Enrolled Nursing Auxiliary at King Dinuzulu Hospital during a night shift while she was performing routine vital signs on a patient.

Following our investigation, IHAWU is concerned that the video being circulated does not present the full context of the incident. The footage appears to focus on the nurse’s reaction while failing to adequately show the inappropriate physical interaction that preceded it.

IHAWU stands firmly in solidarity with the nurse involved. We believe that every healthcare worker deserves dignity, respect, safety and protection while performing their duties.

IHAWU does not condone professional misconduct. However, accountability must be based on the complete facts and not on a selectively edited video circulating on social media. A healthcare worker must never be expected to silently tolerate physical, verbal, sexual or emotional abuse simply because they are providing care to a patient.

The abuse of healthcare workers is a serious global problem. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are routinely subjected to verbal abuse, threats, physical violence, sexual harassment and intimidation while serving patients.

We are particularly concerned about the normalisation of inappropriate sexual contact against nurses. A nurse’s uniform does not remove her right to bodily autonomy, dignity and safety. Being a patient does not give anyone the right to touch, sexually harass, intimidate or assault a healthcare worker.

EMPLOYERS MUST NOT SACRIFICE WORKERS TO APPEASE SOCIAL MEDIA

IHAWU is equally concerned about the tendency of employers to distance themselves from workers or publicly condemn employees when incidents go viral, seemingly to appease the court of public opinion.

A worker must not be sacrificed to protect an institution’s reputation.

A viral video is not a disciplinary hearing. Social media outrage is not due process. An employer has a responsibility to investigate fairly, establish the facts and protect the rights of all parties involved.

We therefore call on the KwaZulu Natal Department of Health and King Dinuzulu Hospital management not to rush to publicly condemn or scapegoat the healthcare worker in an attempt to appease the social media jury.

The nurse deserves the same fairness, dignity and presumption of innocence that every worker is entitled to.

If there are allegations of misconduct, they must be dealt with through proper processes. Equally, if a healthcare worker has been subjected to abuse or inappropriate physical contact, that conduct must also be investigated and addressed.

OUR NURSES DESERVE PROTECTION

IHAWU calls for a full and impartial investigation into the entire incident, including all available footage, witness accounts and other relevant evidence.

We further call for stronger security measures, effective reporting mechanisms and clear protocols for dealing with patients who display violent, abusive or sexually inappropriate behaviour towards healthcare workers.

We cannot build a safe healthcare system by protecting patients at the expense of healthcare workers. Patient safety and worker safety must exist together.

We can demand professionalism from nurses while defending their dignity.

We can protect patients while protecting healthcare workers.

We can hold workers accountable without publicly crucifying them.

IHAWU stands firmly with the nurse involved and with every healthcare worker who reports for duty with the intention of saving lives, only to face abuse, humiliation or violence.

Our nurses are not punching bags.

Our healthcare workers deserve dignity, safety and respect.

IHAWU will not abandon its members and will not allow healthcare workers to be sacrificed to appease social media outrage.

Hands off our nurses. Hands off our healthcare workers.

Issued by:

Independent Health and Allied Workers Union (IHAWU)

Media Contact:
Lerato Mthunzi
+27 65 823 0082
Rich Sicina
+27 60 682 1672

14/08/2026