Deputy Health Minister Slams Nurses For Dancing For Cash At Parirenyatwa

Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Sleiman Timios Kwidini has said nurses should not dance while in uniform, arguing that it is degrading and undermines their role in society.

Kwidini’s remarks come barely a week after Tinotenda Tungwarara — daughter of businessman and presidential adviser Paul Tungwarara — paid nurses US$100 each to dance at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.

The nurses performed the “Borrowdale” dance to a song by sungura star Alick Macheso.

Addressing nurses, hospital executives, students and government officials at International Nurses Day commemorations at The Avenues Clinic in Harare this week, Kwidini said it was unbecoming for nurses to twerk in uniform.

“Ngatitambei chibhasikoro tisiri mu uniform. Zvinotibvisa chiremera,” said Kwidini, Shona for “Let us not dance to music while in uniform. It is degrading.”

There was an outcry on social media after videos emerged of Tinotenda handing out US$100 notes to uniformed nurses, selecting those she thought had danced better than the rest.

Critics described the scene as a humiliating, “banana republic”-style degradation of health workers already grappling with severe economic hardship.

Critics say the incident reflects failed governance, where flamboyant politicians and their associates flaunt wealth while professionals are reduced to performing for cash.

It comes as nurses, who earn an average of around US$262 a month in hard currency, continue to struggle for a living wage.

Many expressed shame and disgust, arguing that such actions strip nurses of their dignity and discredit the nursing profession.

The incident has fuelled accusations that the government is undermining professional dignity in favour of political patronage and corruption.