Question $1$

$[50$ Marks$]$

Read the case study below and answer all the questions that follow.

CASE STUDY: Workers had to resort to using refuse bags to protect themselves' $-$ Nehawu report.

Source: News$24,28$ July $2020$

A fact$-$finding investigation by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union $($Nehawu$)$ has uncovered shocking and dangerous working conditions under which health workers and staff have to perform their duties in some hospitals in the country.

At a briefing on Tuesday, the Union's General Secretary, Zola Saphetha, detailed the mission's report, which included demands and proposals. The report has brought to light the dire state of South Africa's public healthcare system, which poses dangers for workers and patients alike, and wams of protest action starting in late August.

Lack of personal protective equipment $($PPE$)$

In almost all healthcare institutions the Union visited, a general shortage of PPE was identified. This was despite the Govemment's assurance there was enough just four months before, saying they would embark on procurement to replenish stock. The Union found there was managerial incompetence in many healthcare facilities when it came to how long PPE would last, with no plan to avoid stock running out. Challenges with PPE distribution to frontline workers was also a problem, with cleaning staff and porters in some institutions left unprotected because of a misconception that PPE was only for clinical staff.

$"$In fact, in an institution like Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, our team found that workers had to resort to using refuse bags to protect themselves", the report read.

PPE stock was never adequate in the first place, the report said, and are still not adequate now that the country was nearing peak infections.

Staff shortages

A key factor in all healthcare institutions visited by the union was staff shortages. The shortages do not only relate to specialists, doctors, professionals and nurses, but also to non$-$clinical staff. "This generates an unbearable environment and experiences for patients and visitors, not to mention the extreme work overload imposed upon the current workforce in the face of Covid$-19",$ the report said. It added the problem was so pervasive that some nurses are made to do the work of cleaners and porters $-$ without PPE.

PPE procurement and human resource deployment to meet requirements where the need is highest have been left to provinces to plan. "Hence, there was a shambolic and

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competitive scramble among provinces for PPEs and other essential requirements $-$ which led to the maldistribution of these already inadequately gathered resources", the report said. In August, it plans to embark on protest action, including stayaways and pickets.

"Full Blown Action" is planned for $10$ September, which involves "complete withdrawal of labour in all sectors if there is no response favourable to our interests until all our demands are met".

Proper procurement process for critical requirements be it in govemment or business would have minimised the massive PPE and human resources shortages affecting the health care system in our country.

Questions:

$1\mathrm{.}1$ Discuss in detail what analysis and approaches Government should have conducted when evaluating potential suppliers for PPE?

$1\mathrm{.}2$ What would have been your recommendations to obtain human resources amidst the COVID$-19$ crisis in the health sector?

$1\mathrm{.}3$ From the case study, identify the repercussions of poor supply of resources and PPE during COVID$-19.$