Unemployed pharmacists threaten sit-in if they’re not given jobs
Unemployed pharmacists have joined the ranks of unemployed doctors and teachers who are demanding jobs from government.
A group of approximately 100 unemployed pharmacists marched to the Health Department’s head office at Natalia building yesterday demanding that government employ post-community service pharmacists.
Handing over a memorandum, the group’s representative Sandile Nzuza said the number of unemployed post-community service pharmacists was “increasing significantly”.
“We have noticed, during our community service, that the ratio of pharmacists per patient is untenable,” Nzuza said.
“This could mean that people are not given proper advice when they are receiving medication and this also hinders an individual’s ability to get [and take] medication [as instructed],” Nzuza said.
The unemployed pharmacists said that they are currently working in temporary, or locum, positions which provides an inadequate and unreliable salary.
Nkalipho Ndlovu explained the anguish of not having a permanent job.
“The salary that we receive for working as a locum is not a lot at all, especially if you’re only standing in for someone for one or two days,” Ndlovu said. He added that the most worrying part of working as a locum is that there was no guarantee of income.
“Sometimes I go a month without working, which means that I receive no salary for that entire month,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu completed his community service last year, leaving him unemployed for four months so far.
Another unemployed pharmacist, who asked not be named, said he graduated in 2021 but has yet to receive a permanent post. He said the department’s failure to provide positions for pharmacists is an ongoing issue that dates back years.
“We have seen that the department sometimes advertises positions only to withdraw them shortly afterward and have those positions remain unfilled.
“The government has done absolutely nothing to create positions for pharmacists yet, there is a demand for pharmacists in the healthcare system,” he said.
All the pharmacists at the memorandum handover yesterday expressed despair over not having jobs, despite completing their four-year Bachelor of Pharmacy degree and all the other requirements, including internships and community service.
“The availability of sufficient pharmacists in the public service sector will strengthen the healthcare system of South Africa and reduce patients’ waiting times across all health facilities as there will be sufficient hands to support the demands and enable the department to meet its objectives,” the memorandum read.
If the department fails to respond to the memorandum by April 24, Nzuza said they will follow the route of the unemployed doctors and camp outside the building until accountability and action is taken by the Department of Health.
“Why are there so many gaps in the Department of Health? Why is there so much dysfunctionality? And why are people unemployed when so many hospitals and clinics are understaffed?” Nzuza asked.
Along with answers to those questions, Nzuza and the other unemployed pharmacists say they want a budget to be allocated that would allow for positions to be filled and opened.