Doctors at the Helen Joseph hospital would continue with their lunchtime pickets for the rest of the week over poor salaries, a doctor at the Helen Joseph hospital said.

Claudia do Vale said on Monday that doctors were unhappy with government's offer which currently stands between 0.27 and eight percent, instead of the 50 percent which they deserve.

"We are the ones who have to work under terrible conditions and taking no tea times, working 30 hours because of so many patients that need our attention... We can't leave them."

Interviews: Doctors in public healthcare protest

The picketing action continues despite the fact that negotiations between the government and the SA Medical Association (Sama) are still underway over the implementation of the occupation specific dispensation and the remuneration of doctors in the public sector.

Health department spokesman Fidel Hadebe described the picketing at Helen Joseph as "spontaneous", saying there was no indication of doctors picketing in other provinces.

"This is spontaneous, their intention was to do so countrywide, but the action itself has not reached that point," Hadebe said.

However, another doctor at the Helen Joseph disputed it, saying there were more lunchtime protest in Pretoria, Johannesburg and KwaZulu Natal on Monday.

"It was not just an isolated or spontaneous protest, since it had been planned last week and commenced last week Friday at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, with the hope for national involvement by the end of this week," said Marinus van der Westhuizen.

Westhuizen said it was not only doctors who were unhappy but also dentists, pharmacists and emergency medical personnel who were all still awaiting for their OSD.

He said dentists have indicated on Monday that they also wish to join the lunchhour protest action.

"The aim of the protest is to make government understand just how unhappy we are, and also to let the public know that we're not being taken seriously."

Hadebe said the bargaining council and other stakeholders are expected to reconvene on Tuesday.

"The pickets should not create a false impression that negotiations had deadlocked or that the department is not involved," he said.

Meanwhile, Do Vale said some patients would be affected during the picketing hour, between 12.30pm to 1.30pm, as the clinic would be closed.

"We are only leaving emergency staff during this time. Patients who have to be attended to will have to wait until after our lunchtime picketing," she said.

Last month, doctors resumed work after embarking on a three-week strike over the OSD, which led to the health department issuing letters of dismissal.

The letters were replaced with final written warnings after an agreement was reached between all sides, which saw doctors agree to recommit themselves to the negotiation process and return to work.

Some doctors claimed that they received a monthly salary of R8000.

However, the health department in the Eastern Cape, one of the provinces that has not yet experienced any strike actions or picketing over the OSD said, this was not true.

"Some doctors who speak to the media are misleading the public. In the Eastern Cape, they get a net salary of over R20 000 including allowances and they get a committed overtime of more than R5000 on top of that," Sizwe Kupelo said.

Kupelo said it was important that doctors work with government in the implementation of the OSD.

"Doctors need to remember and appreciate that we spent taxpayers' money sending some of them to medical schools in Cuba and so on."

Last year alone, the government spent R96-million assisting health professionals, money which Kupelo said doctors were not expected to pay back.

He said government's interventions were not being appreciated, adding that it was "not all that gloom", considering some of the allowances doctors were getting.

"We are trying to turn the situation around."

However, Do Vale said not every doctor received all those allowances.

"It depends who you are. For instance, I don't get the skills allowance and other allowances," she said.

Sapa