Unemployed community service pharmacists staged a sit-in outside the Department of Health offices in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last week, after the national and provincial Health Departments failed to respond to an earlier memorandum in mid-April about jobs.
Representatives of the national Unemployed Pharmacists SA, with members in all nine provinces, said that the document had been handed over and emailed to the various stakeholders on 15 April, in which the group had demanded immediate allocation of employment and letters of appointment for more than 150 post-community service pharmacists in each province.
They also called for the absorption of all community service pharmacists upon completion of their service, and that vacant positions be adequately filled by the post-community service pharmacists to ensure a continuous cycle of employment.
Masego Moepye, a group representative in Gauteng, with an honours degree in pharmacy, said the stakeholders had failed to respond to their memorandum by 24 April, prompting the sit-in.
She said the Health Department was not absorbing community service pharmacists anymore. “There are also several posts withdrawn by the government, with no reason being given.
“There are plenty of posts in the private sector, but you are required to have between two and three years of experience. When completing community service, you have no years of experience so it’s highly unlikely you will get a job in the private sector,” she added.
Moepye said there had been no response to their demands.
“In provinces where members couldn’t hand over the memorandum, we made sure to send emails to the presidency, and both the national and provincial Health Departments informing them of the deadline, even on the day. We waited all day…we are still awaiting a response.”
A 26-year-old unemployed pharmacist from Pietermaritzburg, who declined to be named, said she had only been able to secure locum positions since completing her community service in January 2022.
“My last locum position was in February. Since then I haven’t been able to secure another locum position or permanent employment.”
The national and provincial Health Departments and Office of the President had not responded at the time of publication.
IOL article – Unemployed pharmacists demand jobs (Open access)
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