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The Eastern Cape Health Department said it was doing the best it could to address the issue of unemployed doctors and nurses in the province.
The Deputy Director-General for clinical services, Dr Mtandeki Xamlashe, was responding to the ongoing protest at the Department's offices by qualified doctors who remain unemployed, and nurses on contract demanding to be made permanent.
They were picketing outside the Department of Health offices in East London on Friday, after camping outside the Health Department offices in Bhisho for the past two weeks.
Xamlashe said that the Department is however addressing the issue, with support from national and provincial treasury that provided R380 million for this purpose.
In February, over 200 unemployed medical professionals marched to Bhisho, and out of that group, about 98 doctors were employed, with 7 pharmacist vacancies issued, allegedly from the budget allocation.
The march in East London on Friday is from the cohort of graduates that were left out of the initial recruitment process in March.
In response to their plight, Dr Xamlashe said they take the issue of unemployment very seriously, saying they would love to employ all health professionals coming into the system, but he said funding remains a problem countrywide.
The unemployed post community service graduates have raised suspicions over the spending of the allocated fund. Dr Mava Mazeka, a representative for the unemployed doctors, said he was starting to doubt he would get employed.
“They first said the R380 million is finished and then when we had subsequent meetings they said no it is not finished, but that they were going to have a meeting with treasury to check whether the funds have been spent accordingly.”
Meanwhile, Dr Xamlashe said they had developed a programme that will ensure contracted nurses within the department are offered permanent positions. He said adverts were out and encouraged nurses to apply.
“They are free to apply and to compete fairly with every South African who applies. Laws do not allow exclusivity when it comes to recruitment. All citizens must be given a fair and equal chance to compete for any job.”
However, Dr Mava Mazeka, said they had encountered a new problem:
“They keep on releasing block adverts but when you go to these hospitals to enquire you are told there are no posts. This leads us to believe that they are only releasing these block adverts to look good in the public eye.”
He said in instances where there were real vacancies in hospitals, the staff would say that ‘Bhisho’ refuses to sign off on recruitments.
“We have sent an ultimatum for them to start our recruitment process today and if they do not, we will sit in their offices and continue with our picket until we are employed.”
