KZN Health MEC announces 20 new posts amid picket by unemployed doctors

The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has announced that 20 doctor posts will be advertised within the next seven days, as part of interim efforts to tackle the growing unemployment crisis among healthcare professionals in the province.

KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane confirmed the move during a media briefing yesterday alongside Premier Thami Ntuli. She stated that this decision followed engagements between the Department and the Office of the Premier.

Unemployed doctors in the province have been holding a picket outside the provincial government offices in Pietermaritzburg since Monday. Simelane, Ntuli and other members of the cabinet went to engage with the doctors yesterday.

Simelane also clarified that the national allocation of 800 healthcare posts announced earlier this year was for the country and not just for KZN.

“We want to make it clear that those 800 posts form part of a national process, which is being handled at the level of the Minister of Health, the Minister of Finance, and Parliament,” said Simelane.

“KwaZulu-Natal, like all other provinces, will receive a portion of those posts. Once national has finalised that process and informed us how many posts we will receive, we will immediately advertise them.”

She added that the matter of the unemployed doctors had already been escalated to the presidency and was receiving attention from the national Cabinet.

“When we realised that our provincial budget would not be enough to absorb all the doctors finishing their community service this year, we escalated the matter to the Premier. The Premier and I then took the issue directly to the President,” said Simelane. “National Treasury and the Department of Health are now working together to source and allocate funding across all provinces.”

Simelane highlighted the long-term financial strain on the department, saying it had been impacted by R14 billion in budget cuts over the past five years.

One of the doctors who was picketing this week told Newzroom Afrika that they wanted to serve the communities they come from.

"Myself and some of my colleagues have only been unemployed for six months as we completed our community service in December. But there are some colleagues who have been unemployed for one year and six months. Unemployment means that in the public sector there (are) long waiting lines and long waiting periods for surgeries. Our colleagues who are currently employed are overburdened and overworked." 

The Public Servants Association (PSA) welcomed the announcement of 20 new posts but warned that it fell far short of addressing the crisis.

“Our data shows that there are over 400 doctor vacancies in the province,” said Mlungisi Ndlovu, PSA KZN provincial manager.

“The R14 billion budget cut suffered by the provincial Department over the past five years has crippled its capacity to deliver quality healthcare.”

The DA also weighed in, noting the protests by unemployed doctors outside government offices in Pietermaritzburg.

“Their frustration is understandable and speaks to deeper challenges within our healthcare system,” said Dr Imran Keeka, DA KZN spokesperson on health.

“Sustainable staffing must consider the system as a whole… hiring large numbers of doctors alone distorts this delicate balance.”

Keeka reiterated that the national allocation process remains beyond the province’s control.

THE MERCURY