'We have unemployed nurses too': Motsoaledi says government can't hire every unemployed doctor

Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi says government sympathises with unemployed doctors and would like to hire the health practitioners, but there is shortage of funds to pay their salaries.

IOL reported earlier this week that concerns have been raised by the South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu) regarding 450 doctors who completed their statutory community service but remain unemployed.

Samatu raised the alarm this week over the ongoing issue of unemployed doctors who had completed their statutory community service.

Motsoaledi however cautioned that government has no obligation to employ every unemployed doctor who has completed the internship and statutory community service phases.

“After community service you are a free person, you are a fully-fledged doctor, you can go anywhere. If the State advertises posts, you can apply. If the post is in the private sector, you can apply. If you want to open your own private private practice, you can do so. If you want to, and work elsewhere, you can do anything. Now I hear words like absorption. After community service, there is nothing like absorption, you apply for a job like any other job-seeker or graduate,” Motsoaledi said in an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.

“I personally I am a doctor, I am a minister and I would like people to get employed but I do not want to give an impression that there is a special deal for some people because they are doctors. We also have unemployed nurses, unemployed social workers, all of them unfortunately because of austerity measures and budgetary constraints.”

Samatu said it has documented a staggering 450 doctors who have completed their community service and remain unemployed, and the number is still increasing.

“SAMATU has over the years engaged the National Department of Health (NDoH) to highlight the dire consequences that the department's lack of strategy in retaining doctors post community service has on the public health system of our country. Each year, successive ministers of health have acknowledged the gravity of this situation and the need to develop concrete strategies that would curb this issue from persisting. However, after so many years we are yet to see a plan from the NDoH which addresses this issue,” said Samatu general secretary, Dr Cedric Sihlangu.

By the middle of last year, some 800 doctors who completed statutory community service programmes were unemployed and struggling to find work in the public sector.

IOL