They want hospitals to be able to recruit directly

About 50 unemployed doctors protested outside the offices of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday, demanding jobs.

In a memorandum to Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane, the doctors demand postings for some 200 unemployed doctors in the province.

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They also demand a sustainable plan to address unemployment in the future, priority consideration for unemployed doctors when filling open positions, equal job opportunities for bursary and non-bursary holders, and the decentralisation of the recruitment process to allow hospitals to hire doctors directly.

According to Tholumusa Sibiya, the convener of the committee of the unemployed doctors, some of the doctors protesting on Wednesday have been unemployed since 2024.

Hospitals are not hiring doctors even though they are short-staffed, said Sibiya.

According to the KZN health department's 2024/2025 annual report, the vacancy rate was at 10% across all postings in the 2025 financial year.

"So, what you see here is a group of unemployed doctors, but to me, it's beyond that," said Sibiya. "It's us representing the youth of KZN and this comes, unfortunately, 50 years after the youth from Soweto marched, and we're still fighting for inclusion."

Doctors want to serve their communities, but there are no postings available, said Catherine Hardy, a doctor who has been unemployed since January.

KZN is losing doctors to other provinces and the private sector, said Hardy. "Some other provinces have at least published some postings this year on their websites."

She said the department and the doctors should find a way forward together.