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ActionSA has written to the Speaker of Parliament to request an urgent parliamentary debate on the shocking reality that thousands of qualified medical doctors and other frontline medical professionals remain unemployed while South Africa’s public healthcare system suffers from severe staff shortages.

This crisis is yet another failure to properly manage healthcare resources, with South Africa already falling short of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) doctor-to-population ratio, yet thousands of skilled professionals, desperately needed on the front lines remain unemployed. 

In response to ActionSA’s parliamentary question, the Minister of Health revealed that vacancy rates for funded doctor posts in the public health sector are as high as 22%, with the Free State and Mpumalanga being the worst affected provinces.

While budget constraints are often conveniently cited as the cause for high vacancy rates, this argument falls flat when confronted with the reality that the same government is willing to spend billions on excessive cabinet perks for 32 Ministers and 43 Deputy Ministers. 

Sadly, with no discernible effort to address this critical shortfall, the government has created a crisis where doctors remain unemployed, hospitals remain understaffed, and millions face the risk and indignity of a failing healthcare system.

ActionSA believes that Parliament must step forward to safeguard our healthcare system from further decline by demanding that the government act with urgency to address the crisis of unemployed doctors and frontline medical professionals.

Issued by ActionSA Member of Parliament Dr Kgosi Letlape