Unemployed doctors reflect poorly on health education: ActionSA

Doctor’s stethoscope.

2 minutes

ActionSA says the number of unemployed qualified doctors in South Africa creates a bad impression that health education is not significant.

This has emerged during an urgent debate held by the National Assembly to discuss the non-filling of the vacant posts for doctors in the public sector.

ActionSA Member of Parliament, Dr Tebogo Letlape, requested Parliament to deliberate on the crisis of unemployed doctors and frontline medical professionals, coupled with its devastating impact on the health care system.

Letlape has urged government and Parliament to swiftly address the challenge of unemployed medical doctors.

“How then do we explain not employing neither young healthcare professionals? How do we get to a point where our children go to professions needed by the nation? We send them on government programmes to study abroad. Some families do that on their own accord, and we tell them we do not have the duty to observe them. This is training promoted to meet a need at great pain of personal and financial sacrifice, skills needed by society and our children are told to go away. Madiba emphasised the value of education to improve the lives of all and we are collectively rubbishing the value of education,” says Letlape.

ActionSA MP @DrKgosiLetlape issues a clarion call to all MPs to act with urgency in addressing the crisis of unemployed doctors and frontline medical professionals.

Watch as he outlines the challenges facing the healthcare system and why MPs cannot stand by but they MUST ACT! pic.twitter.com/y1J5PYCwbS

— Athol Trollip (@AtholT) March 7, 2025