THE pittance medic Muzi Zungu earns after twelve years of study has left a bitter taste in his mouth.
THE pittance medic Muzi Zungu earns after twelve years of study has left a bitter taste in his mouth.
To show his bitterness Zungu protested against low salaries and poor working conditions with more than 200 colleagues in Pretoria on Friday. The public health specialist at the Steven Biko Memorial Hospital in Pretoria said he took home a meagre salary after deductions from his R20000 gross.
"I moved out of my bonded house and am renting now. I want a car and the reality is that I can only afford something for less than R4000 a month," Zungu said.
During his tough student days at the University of Cape Town he looked forward to his first salary, hoping to make ends meet.
"A lot of people in my family contributed towards my upbringing and studies and I have two children. They do not expect me to pay them back, but I had hoped that when I graduated I would be able to look after them. It is impossible to do anything for my family back home in Mpumalanga," Zungu said.
He said his salary "evaporated" after he paid for groceries and his children's education.
Doctors' anger during the march to the health department spilled over when they traded insults with taxi drivers who were complaining about the doctors blockade of Vermeulen and Prinsloo streets.
A junior, doctor who identified herself as "Dr Gatvol Mashilela", shouted at drivers: "You don't own the streets. When you are on strike and block the streets we don't scream at you."
Drivers screamed back: "Move away! Go protest in hospitals. Since when do doctors toyi-toyi?"
Mashilela, 24, who is doing community service and earns R8000 a month, said: "I won't run away from my country or stop serving my people with dedication. I'll fight the system until I get what I deserve."
DOCS DEMAND MORE MONEY
THE pittance medic Muzi Zungu earns after twelve years of study has left a bitter taste in his mouth.
THE pittance medic Muzi Zungu earns after twelve years of study has left a bitter taste in his mouth.
To show his bitterness Zungu protested against low salaries and poor working conditions with more than 200 colleagues in Pretoria on Friday. The public health specialist at the Steven Biko Memorial Hospital in Pretoria said he took home a meagre salary after deductions from his R20000 gross.
"I moved out of my bonded house and am renting now. I want a car and the reality is that I can only afford something for less than R4000 a month," Zungu said.
During his tough student days at the University of Cape Town he looked forward to his first salary, hoping to make ends meet.
"A lot of people in my family contributed towards my upbringing and studies and I have two children. They do not expect me to pay them back, but I had hoped that when I graduated I would be able to look after them. It is impossible to do anything for my family back home in Mpumalanga," Zungu said.
He said his salary "evaporated" after he paid for groceries and his children's education.
Doctors' anger during the march to the health department spilled over when they traded insults with taxi drivers who were complaining about the doctors blockade of Vermeulen and Prinsloo streets.
A junior, doctor who identified herself as "Dr Gatvol Mashilela", shouted at drivers: "You don't own the streets. When you are on strike and block the streets we don't scream at you."
Drivers screamed back: "Move away! Go protest in hospitals. Since when do doctors toyi-toyi?"
Mashilela, 24, who is doing community service and earns R8000 a month, said: "I won't run away from my country or stop serving my people with dedication. I'll fight the system until I get what I deserve."
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