The financially-stricken KwaZulu-Natal Health Department has done an about-turn on its controversial decision to freeze pharmacy internship posts – announced this past weekend – after an outcry from unions and the profession.
TimesLIVE reports that on Saturday, the department had announced that it was under such severe budget pressure that it would provide only medical intern and community service posts for 2026, leaving health graduates from other disciplines high and dry.
The outraged Public Servants Association (PSA) trade union and South Africa’s biggest industry body for independent pharmacies, the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA), immediately demanded intervention from Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
On Wednesday, provincial Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said national funding has been reprioritised to “enable the province to open applications for pharmacy and psychology interns”.
However, it was not made clear how much money has been made available, how many positions will be filled, or why other internship posts for disciplines such as dentistry and speech therapy remain frozen, and the department was not immediately available to comment.
KZN Health, along with the Gauteng, Northern Cape and Free State Health departments, are in such a shocking financial state that they risk being placed under administration, according to a Business Day report last month.
Figures presented to Parliament last year by the National Department of Health show that KZN’s accruals have soared in the past five years, rising from R1.78bn at the end of 2020/21 to R3.27bn in 2024/25.
Settling its accruals accounted for 5.8% of KZN Health’s 2025/26 budget allocation of R56.2bn.
Motsoaledi commissioned a review of the government’s internship and community service policy last April, but it has yet to be finalised. Among the public submissions was a request that pharmacy interns be included in the centrally managed system.
TimesLIVE article – KwaZulu-Natal health department ends pharmacy intern freeze (Restricted access)
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