While ActionSA welcomes the announcement by the Premier to insource security guards, cleaners, kitchen, and garden staff at new healthcare facilities, we cannot celebrate it.
This decision represents a missed opportunity to transform the lives of those currently working under exploitative conditions in existing healthcare facilities and other government entities.
While this move aligns with our policy for insourcing, ActionSA’s policy does not support leaving anyone behind.
It is deeply concerning that the Premier has chosen to focus solely on new facilities, disregarding the plight of security guards and other staff already within the system—some of whom have not even received their salaries.
On the 3rd of October 2023, ActionSA joined forces with members of Iphimbo Labasebenzi, marching to the Premier’s Office in Pietermaritzburg.
Our demands were clear: Insourcing for all security guards, cleaners, kitchen and garden staff. We called on the Premier to address the issues affecting those already employed in the system.
We marched for workers currently bearing the brunt of exploitative systems, not for future employees at new facilities.
The Premier’s approach raises serious questions:
1. Why is insourcing being implemented within the healthcare sector only, and not extended to other government departments and municipalities?
2. What message is being sent to the workers who have been calling for change, especially those who marched to the Premier’s Office?
3. What is being done to address the systemic exploitation of those already in the system?
4. How many new healthcare facilities does his administration actually intend to construct? From what we understand, there aren’t many in the pipeline, which suggests that the insourcing promise will benefit very few people.
It is becoming evident that under this administration, there may be little to no meaningful progress in addressing insourcing across the board.
The selective application of insourcing is a clear indication that the Premier is not fully committed to resolving the broader challenges faced by workers in KwaZulu-Natal.
ActionSA calls on the Premier to return to the drawing board and present a comprehensive plan that includes workers currently in the system, ensuring fair and equal treatment across all sectors. Anything less is a betrayal of the workers who voted them in power.
We will continue to stand with workers and fight for policies that promote dignity, fairness, and equality in the workplace.
KZN Premier Shamelessly Shifts Goal Post on Insourcing Plan