Unemployed healthcare professionals march to the Department of Heath to handover a memorandum of demands. Unemployed doctors in KwaZulu-Natal are set to march to the Department of Health’s headquarters in Pietermaritzburg. File Picture: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Frustrated unemployed doctors who have recently completed their community service are set to march to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health’s headquarters at the Natalia Building in Pietermaritzburg on Monday.
This anticipated demonstration aims to urge the government to assist them in securing employment opportunities amid a growing crisis within the healthcare system.
This comes after unemployed doctors staged a sit-in at the Natalia building last year, calling for the department to provide them with jobs.
Prior to this, more than 100 unemployed doctors marched and handed over a memorandum of demands to then deputy health minister, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, and KZN health’s head of department, Dr Sandile Tshabalala.
Last week, unemployed doctors protested in Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape, demanding to be employed.
A statement by the unemployed doctors’ group on Thursday said as young doctors who have recently finished their community service, they are dismayed by the lack of employment opportunities available to them.
“Despite our qualifications and training, we are being forced to take to the streets to demand that our government provides us with the jobs we need to serve our communities.”
The group said they believe the recurring phenomenon of doctors protesting for jobs at the beginning of every year is a clear indication of poor planning and negligence on the part of our government.
“This situation is unacceptable and reflects a blatant disregard for the well-being of both healthcare professionals and the patients we serve. The understaffing of public healthcare facilities has severe consequences for patients, who are often forced to wait for extended periods. We view this predicament as an emergency and a violation of basic human rights that must be swiftly corrected.”
The unemployed doctors said they hope that the march on January 27 will bring more attention to the plight of unemployed doctors and apply pressure on the government to take immediate action to address the shortage of medical posts in the province.
Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi said last week that crippling budget cuts affected the government’s capacity to hire as well as perform a large number of functions.
Motsoaledi stated that the government is only required to absorb students fresh from university doing internships and community service, and do not have to absorb unemployed doctors.
“If the state advertises posts, you can apply. If the post is in the private sector, you can apply. If you want to open a private practice, you can do so,” he had said.
According to reports last March, the National Ministry of Health confirmed that out of the 800 unemployed doctors who petitioned the Department of Health for vacancies, 270 have been appointed across the country.
South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu) general secretary, Dr Cedric Sihlangu, said as of January 21, the union has a record of 634 qualified doctors who are post-community service and are sitting at home unemployed.
Sihlangu said this has a ripple effect that not only affects unemployed doctors, but also employed doctors who are overworked due to understaffing.
“Communities suffer because they have to wait in long queues to get basic healthcare services, the quality of healthcare provided diminishes, and the bill for medical negligence claims rises significantly as fatigued doctors attend to patients.”
He said the ratio of approximately 0.9 doctors per 1 000 patients in SA indicates a challenge in meeting the healthcare needs of the population in terms of staffing in public healthcare facilities.
karen.singh@inl.co.za