"Please go home and wait for the imminent advertisement of posts and apply."
These are the words of KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane, to the province's unemployed doctors.
Earlier this week, a group of unemployed doctors staged a sit-in at Natalia building at the department's offices in Pietermaritzburg.
This followed a march last month where they handed over a memorandum of demands to deputy health minister, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo and KZN health's head of department, Dr Sandile Tshabalala.
Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, Simelane said Tshabalala met with the unemployed doctors and following a protracted three-hour meeting, some agreements were reached.
"We don’t believe that is how we should be negotiating. We should be able to stick to agreements that have been made. We do have vacancies that have not been filled. Those vacancies are in almost all our hospitals, which have the prerogative to recruit.
"Unfortunately, we are unable to fill all of those posts, at the level that we would like to. That means, we are able to fill only those posts that are funded," she said.
Simelane added that KZN Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube has also raised the matter with President Cyril Ramaphosa, and other conversations were also being held with various department heads and ministers in order to secure funding for vacant posts. This process, Simelane said, has not been completed.
"Yes, we have been provided with funds from the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), but those funds are not for the hiring of unemployed doctors. Those funds were meant to foot the bill for the wage agreement that was agreed upon last year," Simelane explained.
She said this discussion continues with the health minister and Ramaphosa.
"With that said, I want to make a commitment that when we are able to advertise posts, which will be now in April, since the new financial year has started, all our doctors – bursary-funded or not – will be requested to apply. Every civil servant had to go through the proper recruitment process," the MEC said.
She said appointment letters are not just given and unemployed doctors are required to submit and apply as per the process.
“The agreement that we have come to is that we will centralise this process at Head Office, so that there are no vacancies that are funded but not filled. But this does not give us the right to short-circuit the process,” the MEC said.
She added that the posts will be advertised.
“So, we are making a call to the unemployed doctors that, now that we’ll be advertising these posts, can they please go back home and make sure that they apply. Those that do qualify will definitely be employed. And those who might not be employed… the national Government is also going to advertise. So, they are welcome to apply in other provinces as well,” Simelane said.
IOL