A march by unemployed healthcare workers to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to demand government create budget to employ them, 26 February 2024. . Picture: Neil McCartney / The Citizen
Unemployed medical professionals dressed in scrubs marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria singing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika to hand over a memorandum of demands, including for a budget to enable the employment of all unemployed health care and essential workers.
The doctors said they wanted to serve the community but were instead jobless and in debt.
A paediatrician, speaking anonymously, said she has been unemployed since December and knew of colleagues who have been without employment for up to 11 months.
“I have a family I need to provide for. I have an elderly father who lives with me and my bills are beginning to stack up,” she said.
The doctor said being unemployed has been a massive struggle. “It took so much to get me here to become a doctor and follow my dream,” she said.
The doctor said there was a shortage of staff in all the medical departments, with long waiting periods and queues while doctors were at home without work.
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“Hospitals are flooded with patients and there is a shortage of doctors, while more than 800 are waiting to serve but there are no posts available for us.
“It saddens me that we are here after all the blood, sweat and tears, long hours, sleepless nights studying or working night shifts,” she said.
“There is a need for doctors here and now. My parents were part of the public health system, so we know what it’s like to have parents who sit in queues at 5am to collect files and wait on waiting lists.”
A dietician, also speaking anonymously, said he had to take loans to live. He said it was disappointing to study for so many years only to be jobless.
Dr Neo Maduna read the memorandum on behalf of the unemployed health care workers who demanded a response from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office within seven working days.
Maduna said the health care systems were overburdened and understaffed.
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“A significant number of doctors, dentists, radiologists, nurses, pharmacists, speech therapists, dieticians and more are unemployed in this country. This was caused by bad planning and lack of leadership skills in government,” she said.
Maduna said the demands included there be no budget cuts for health care and that additional budgets be created to employ all the unemployed health care workers full-time on full pay.
National department of health spokesperson Foster Mohale said: “The department is working with provinces to activate vacant and unfunded critical posts, including for medical doctors, using an additional budget of R3.7 billion on human resources for financial year 2024-25 as announced by the finance minister during the budget speech.
“Once this exercise is completed, the department will announce the steps to be followed and timeframes with regards to recruitment of additional health care workers,” he said.
Shadow minister of health in the Democratic Alliance Michele Clarke said this month Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla had promised that 800 unemployed doctors would have jobs by April based on discussions with National Treasury that funds would be availed in the budget.
“Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana delivered the budget and made no mention of filling vacancies in the department of health. This proves our belief that the minister of health’s assurances were politicking and baseless.”
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