Thulisile Mapongwana
Unemployed medical doctors in the Eastern Cape held a peaceful march to the offices of the Provincial Government in Bhisho on Tuesday to demand jobs by March, and better healthcare in the province.
The final-year medical students and qualified doctors who completed their in-service training in January, handed over their CVs, and a memorandum of demands, which were received by Dr Mthandeki Xhamlashe.
The march comes after Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla announced last week that the Department of Health, due to budget constraints, is unable to approve new vacancies.
The Minister is expected to address unemployed doctors across the country and will be in the Eastern Cape on Friday.
Speaking during a debate on the State of the Nation Address on Tuesday, Phaahla said one of the solutions from the government is to check if the National Treasury could reassign funds to enable the employment of more healthcare professionals in public health facilities.
He said they are hoping to enroll new doctors by the 1 April.
“I am therefore happy to announce that working with the Minister of Finance we have a solution to address the current challenge of doctors. The details of how we are going to fund the posts will come out from Minister Godongwana’s Budget Speech next Wednesday.”
He further assured that they are working with the medical association SAMA and the trade union SAMATU to look at more opportunities for doctors including in multidisciplinary group practices offering Primary Health Services in communities as we prepare for the implementation of National Health Insurance, which he said would contract such services.
Meanwhile, Dr Xhamlashe told the doctors, after their demands were read out by Dr Zingisa Apleni, that the matter was of national concern.
“We note that it is not just about unemployment, but other issues that relate to how the healthcare service is structured. We welcome some of the demands. A lot of them are in line with the vision of the Department of Health," Xhamlashe said.
Among the marchers was Dr Lungile Memela from KwaZulu Natal who had been a practising doctor for almost 25 years.
Clad in UMkhonto Wesizwe attire, Dr Memela said she would travel to each province to support the marches by the doctors.
“I know the plight our people face, I fill in those death certificates every day and so it bothers me when we have young doctors in the streets when our hospitals do not have doctors, especially in the rural areas.”
Even though they refused to leave without a response, the doctors were inevitably told to allow the meeting with stakeholders to come to pass and to wait 14 days for a response.
