The Department of Health has come under fire from the Junior Doctors Committee of the South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu), which has expressed frustration over the continued unemployment of doctors who have completed their community service.
Calling the long-standing situation unacceptable, the union has accused the department of failing to act while communities continue to face staff shortages in public healthcare facilities, reports AlgoaFM.
A recent Samatu survey of 1 260 community service doctors found many have been unemployed for months – and in some cases years – despite an estimated 1 100 vacant medical doctor posts nationwide.
It noted that Mpumalanga is currently the only province to have filled all vacant doctor posts, and expressed concern that a R20.8bn increase in the public healthcare budget, secured after a Samatu march in 2025, had not been used by provincial departments to fill critical posts.
Employed doctors, it added, continue to work excessive hours beyond HPCSA recommendations.
The union also slammed what it described as divide-and-conquer tactics by the Department of Health, including separating bursary and non-bursary doctors, and pointed to poor co-ordination across provinces.
AlgoaFM article – Samatu slams Health Department over unemployed doctors (Open access)
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