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Newly graduated South African veterinarians will not be able to qualify until they have performed a year of compulsory community service, if the draft veterinary and para-veterinary amendment bill is passed.
The legislation is currently being tabled in parliament.
A year of community service for doctors and dentists is already compulsory, and the government wants vets to perform the same duty.
Dr Rebone Moerane, chairman of the SA Veterinary Council, told the parliamentary portfolio committee on agriculture on Tuesday that if new graduates decided to go and work overseas two months into their community service year, the council would act against them.
