Budget Speech 2025: Government to hire unemployed doctors

In the Budget Speech for the 2025/2026 financial year, Godongwana allocated R28.9b which will also be used to hire unemployed doctors.

The 2025/2026 National Budget has made provisions for government to hire unemployed doctors. Image: Pixabay

As confirmed in the Budget Speech for the 2025/2026 financial year, the Department of Health has been allocated extra funds to hire unemployed doctors.

The Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, tabled the National Budget on Wednesday, 12 March in Cape Town.

MINISTER CONFIRMS GOVERNMENT WILL HIRE UNEMPLOYED DOCTORS IN 2025 BUDGET SPEECH

In his speech, Godongwana confirmed that Health spending will grow from R277 billion in 2024/2025 to R329 billion in 2027/2028 to support the equitable provision of public health services, including free primary healthcare.

Godongwana said like in provincial education, a significant portion of the provincial health budget is spent on salaries and wages.

“R28.9 billion is added to the health budget, mainly to keep about 9 300 healthcare workers in our hospitals and clinics. It will also be used to employ 800 post-community service doctors, and to ensure that our pharmacies do not run out of medicine,” Godongwana said.

2025 Budget Speech unemployed doctors — The Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana delivered his Budget Speech for the 2025/2026 fiscal year on Wednesday. Image: Flickr/GovernmentZA

UNEMPLOYED DOCTORS TAKE TO THE STREETS

In recent years, there has been a public outcry over the large number of unemployed doctors.

In the beginning of 2024, over 800 doctors petitioned the Department of Health for vacancies. Others in KwaZulu-Natal staged a sit in at the provincial department’s offices in Pietermaritzburg.

In February the same year, then-Minister of Health Joe Phaahla blamed ballooning salary bills as one of the reasons some doctors that have completed statutory community service programmes, remain unemployed.

Phaahla said the salary bill of medical practitioners takes up more than 60% of hospitals’ budgets.

“It is no secret that employment costs are extremely high – up to 65% of annual budgets in some instances. This, therefore, leaves little for goods and services to make public health facilities provide holistic care uninterrupted,” he said at the time.

Furthermore, the Department of Health said young doctors are refusing to be placed in the rural areas. However, the department later retracted the statement following an outrage from the young and unemployed doctors and the public at large.

Although Godongwana didn’t mention the specific allocation for the National Health Insurance (NHI), current Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has been accused of ignoring the plight of unemployed doctors and pharmacists.

In February this year, the Democratic Alliance (DA) which is part of the African National Congress (ANC)-led Government of National Unity (GNU) called out Motsoaledi “for his callous response about budget constraints belies the hundreds of millions the Minister has spent on his vanity project – the National Health Insurance (NHI).”

The party said there were 2 000 vacant positions nationally in public hospitals and as of April 2024, the national vacancy rate for medical officers was at an average of 14%, with the Free State, North West, and Limpopo particularly hard hit.

“Sky-high vacancy rates and unemployment of medical professionals have been the norm in the public health sector for years. Last year September it was revealed that of the total number of doctors who completed their community service in 2023, only 60% or 1 187 were appointed into funded medical officer posts in government facilities. That means that 40% had to find a job in private health care or were forced into unemployment or emigration,” DA spokesperson on Health Michele Clark said.