The Public Servants Association (PSA) issued a final warning to the KwaZulu Natal Department of Health, threatening with protests if the KwaZulu Natal Department of Health does not absorbs the more than 150 qualified but unemployed doctors into the provincial system, reported TimesLIVE (July 2025)
“The PSA stated that these doctors have completed their internship and community service obligations in line with public health policy, but have been abandoned by the same government that trained them.”
In response, KwaZulu Health confirmed it would advertise 20 medical officer posts within the next week as an "interim intervention”.
In the past five years, the Department has lost R14bn to baseline budget cuts, which has “dramatically affected its ability to expand the staff complement”, according to Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane .
The PSA has called for a joint meeting between national and provincial authorities, unions, and community organisations to develop a “radical and people-centred workforce plan”.