SACP Mpumalanga statement on the public sector strike against GEMS increases

Sunday, 22 February 2022: The South African Communist Party in Mpumalanga province joins the hundreds of thousands of government employees across the country in the fight against exorbitant Government Employees Medical Aid Scheme (GEMS) increases. Over the years, GEMS has been acting contrary to its own policies and principles using workers as cash-cows, putting profits before the people.

GEMS is a non-profit medical aid scheme which also invests surpluses in the interest of its members; however, this has not been happening. Instead, they are acting like loan sharks who prey on its members while getting poor services in return. Billions lost to investments have not yielded positive results to its members and their treatment moved from bad to worse from GEMS.

It is disappointing that this medical aid scheme is also acting like a monopoly with a lot of barriers to entry for other schemes who may want to provide similar but better services to these employees. This has opened doors for arrogance and abuse of its members who may have no way out of this scheme.

It is important to note that medical aid schemes are operating under conditions of austerity measures making life to be even more difficult for the employees. With the cost of living already high, GEMS should not add more burden but should go back to its founding principles of an affordable medical aid scheme by and for government employees, providing them with relief instead of this perpetual and unreasonable increase of contributions which are pushing workers deeper into the abyss.

The South African Communist Party is always on the side of the exploited and the oppressed as such it will not only support the public sector workers in the fight against GEMS but will also mobilise its members against the exploitation of public sector workers. We also call on all other workers to join the strike in solidarity with the affected employees as Karl Marx puts it ''Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains''.

The SACP was anticipating GEMS to be a springboard for the implementation of the NHI as it was long signed into law for the provision of access to quality and affordable personal health services to all South Africans based on their health needs, we are however, disappointed to learn that the implementation of the NHI is immediately suspended as of Friday last week. We are therefore calling upon our members to join workers on this strike as a beginning for the rolling mass action.

Issued by the South African Communist Party Mpumalanga province

Contact:

Lucky Mbuyane

SACP Provincial Secretary

082 351 5804

ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.

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