‘We’re working on it,’ govt assures unemployed medics

As concerns mount over the high number of unemployed graduates in South Africa, the Health Department has moved to assure young health graduates that it is working at placing them at the country’s under-staffed and under-resourced medical facilities.

Responding to a public outcry over jobless young doctors, Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, says the department is also prioritising other health professionals, including nurses, physiotherapists, and oral health hygienists, in its bid to solve the crisis.

According to the South African Medical Association Trade Union (SAMATU), at least 1 000 qualified doctors have no jobs.

Just last month, over a dozen of them held a demonstration in Pretoria to vent out their frustrations.

Dr Phaahla says provincial health department are in talks with their treasury units to find ways of addressing the unemployment crisis within the health sector.

The Minister held a media briefing on the departments’ efforts to address this issue in Pretoria today.

Phaahla has admitted that the department does not have sufficient financial resources to employ the unemployed doctors at this stage. 

However, he has assured South Africans that some provinces will advertise over 300 vacancies over the next six months.

The Minister says government, however, has no official data of unemployed doctors. He has attributed this to the department not being able to ascertain the medics who decided to stay in the public sector and the ones who joined the private sector after completing their internship and community service.