Unemployed doctors who were promised jobs by the Health Department camped outside the Natalia building in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday night, accusing the government of lying to them.
They say Health Minister Joe Phaahla did not keep his promise to employ young unemployed doctors in public hospitals by April 1.
Thanduxolo Cele, an unemployed doctor from Newcastle, said that he travelled all the way to Pietermaritzburg for the sit-in.
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Over 50 doctors from different parts of the province took part in the sit-in.
“This goes back to February 12, where we had a march from Unisa to Natalia and we handed over a memorandum [to the Department of Health] in which we raised our issues about the crisis of unemployment of healthcare workers,” said Cele.
“What we took from the minister of health’s statements thereafter is that there is a lack of planning. He said that they do not keep records of doctors which, of course, we disputed,” said Cele.
The Witness previously reported that there are 185 medical doctors left jobless despite having completed their training in the province, and 825 countrywide. In a memorandum of their grievances handed to Health Department officials earlier this year, unemployed medical doctors demanded accountability, transparency, and fair employment practices within the healthcare system.
Cele said most of the protesting doctors completed their studies back in 2020.
There has been an ongoing public outcry over doctors who have completed statutory community service programmes but remain unemployed. Phaahla previously said that the government were working tirelessly to ensure that unemployed doctors who want to join the public service are placed by April 1.
“I am, therefore, happy to announce that, working with the minister of finance, we have a solution to address the current challenge of doctors who want to stay in the public service but could not be offered funded posts,” said the minister.
During the debate on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, Phaahla said a governmental national team was working with the National Treasury team to thrash out the details and working with provincial health departments to speed up the process so that all those who will not already be in posts can be able to start.
Phaahla said at that time that he was confident that some provinces will even be able to start giving out appointment letters before April 1.
However, Cele said the number of unemployed doctors keeps piling up as the government fails to provide employment.
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“Most of us completed our studies in 2020 but there are those who completed their studies prior to that. We had given the government two weeks to respond to our memorandum which they have not until this day. That is why we decided to be the public servants that we are and we decided to organise this sit-in,” said Cele.
