Nurses reporting for duty in civilian clothing at Tshwane's public hospitals are returning to wearing their uniforms as the so-called "pyjama protest" winds down.
Most say their personal clothing is facing ruin and they would rather use the uniforms they have at their disposal.
Nurses have been wearing civilian clothing to work as part of a campaign to force the National Health Department to standardise uniform allowances.
Lesiba Seshoka, spokesperson for the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), said nurses had agreed to return to work in uniform.
Seshoka said Denosa was hoping for a final decision on the issue within the next few weeks.
The protest was initiated by nurses at Odi Hospital in North West Province in early March and spread to Gauteng a month later.
Nurses in the province receive an annual "shoe allowance" of R54 and demanded it be increased to R1 200 per annum in line with nurses in the Western Cape.
Gauteng's nurses joined the protest in solidarity with their North West counterparts after Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang accused the nurses of unprofessional conduct and called for disciplinary action.
The nurses responded by threatening to wear pyjamas to work.
Spokesman for the North West health department Barba Goaganediwe said the department was negotiating with nurses' unions to increase the allowance to R1 200 and called for the nurses to show "restraint and behave in a professional manner".
Desireé Maringa, a matron at Odi Hospital, said nurses were abandoning their civilian clothing and wearing uniforms.
Tshwane's public hospitals reported yesterday that the majority of nurses had returned to wearing their uniforms.
"Most are in uniform except for a few who are still resisting," said Flora Dube, a nurse at Pretoria Academic Hospital.
Kalafong and George Mukari hospitals both reported that the majority of nursing staff are in uniform.
Charity Bhengu, spokesman for the National Department of Health, welcomed the decision by nurses to return to wearing their uniforms.
"The process of negotiations on the uniform allowance is under way and we are hoping to find a solution that is acceptable to all concerned," she said.
Bhengu said the department was in the process of determining whether provincial health budgets could accommodate increases in uniform allowances.
"This should be completed shortly, following which a final decision regarding increases will be made," she said.