BONGANI HANS
DISGRUNTLED qualified but unemployed medical doctors in KwaZulu-Natal have laid bare the embarrassment they suffered due to sitting idle while many of them were expected to be breadwinners in their families.
Approximately 100 unemployed doctors marched from the University of South Africa’s Pietermaritzburg campus to the Department of Health head offices at the Natalia Building to hand over a memorandum on Monday.
Twenty-seven-year-old Dr Nontobeko Kunene from Mariannhill outside Durban was one of those who braved the scorching heat to voice their anger and frustration.
“At the end of the day, it is a matter of feeding our families.
“My family needs my financial support because no one is employed at home,” said Kunene who completed her studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal six years ago.
She said she last practised her profession when she completed her internship.
Dr Santhusia Nair said she like many unemployed fellow South Africans, suffers from anxiety.
“More than being unemployed our concerns are about how this (unemployment of doctors) impacts the healthcare system.
“This march is not just about being unemployed, it is about making sure that we have a healthcare system that can provide for our nation.
“Two of us (pointing at her friend Dr Talia Munsamy) studied for more than 10 years.
“It is a very painful experience that we are currently in because we are forced to fight for a job that we are so passionate about,” she said.
The march was led by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu) and a medical student body, which was also concerned about the uncertainty of the students’ future.
They said they were advised to either go abroad or approach private companies to find employment, but they said only public healthcare facilities were allowed to give them experience to become specialists.
“All of us who are here should be in hospitals as patients are suffering every time there are no doctors in the hospital.
“We know the state of the hospitals and clinics and the entire healthcare system in South Africa therefore it is not proper to have such a huge number of unemployed doctors,” said Dr Siyabonga Mlambo who represented Samatu.
He said having doctors available at healthcare centres was a basic human right.
“We are here to voice our grievances...we want employment.
“Being employed at private institutions comes later. Even if you were self-funded or government-funded students the bottom line is that all of us deserve employment.
“You cannot say go to private (institutions) or overseas,” said Mlambo.
He said most of the doctors at the march were the first in their families to receive academic qualifications, and yet they are unemployed.
Cosatu’s Chief Dlamini said it was common for patients who go to public healthcare facilities to be told that there were no doctors because there is a shortage.
“Last year we marched to the Premier’s office. As Cosatu, we need to mobilise communities to support doctors.
“What do we say about the years they spent studying and now they are unemployed?
“It should be the last time we march to deliver a memorandum.
“We want to tell the heads of the departments (in the Premier’s office and the health department) that Cosatu is not playing games,” he said.
In their memorandum, they demanded employment “irrespective of their bursary status”.
They also demanded an urgent comprehensive, long-term and sustainable plan to address the shortage of medical practitioners
“This plan should include accurate projection of workforce needs and improved resource allocation, and strategies to retain doctors, particularly in undeserved areas,” read the memorandum.
They also accused the government of not spending public funds appropriately or misappropriating them.
They also called for the government to provide mental healthcare support and counselling for overburdened, employed doctors.