“I was on the frontline in an ICU during Covid, putting my life on the line for this country. I am trained to serve patients of this country — only now to find I cannot get placed and do what I am trained to do.”
These are the words of Kesiwe Dube*, one of several medical students from other African countries, who have studied medicine in SA and now can’t get placed for an internship.
She and the others say they have been blocked at every turn and now feel desperate after having studied in SA for six years.
Another student, David Mulenga*, obtained a distinction and was told he could get a placement if he was willing to work for no money as a lack of funding was behind the situation.
He raised the money required but still was denied a post.
“This has taken a toll on our mental health. It is crazy and we are left wondering if we must give up medicine altogether despite studying so hard for all these years and seeing our colleagues succeed. We were never told over the six years that they would no longer allow foreign nationals to be placed,” he said, “and there are gaps we are willing to fill.”
He had originally applied through the critical skills list, but in February doctors were removed from it.
Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi did include, for example, multimedia specialists and investment managers, but general practitioners had been removed.
Foster Mohale, speaking on behalf of the department of health, said the department’s policy does not officially preclude foreign nationals from doing their medical internship in SA and added: “However, allocation is prioritised for SA citizens and permanent residents.”
He added: “The purpose of medical internship is to evaluate an individual’s strength to practice as a medical doctor independently. It has nothing to do with criticism of foreign nationals.”
But Dube is a permanent resident, has lived in the country for more than a decade and has waited more than seven months to be placed.
She graduated at the end of last year, and each year two cohorts of interns are placed — in January and July.
In January, the unplaced interns sent several emails and made calls to no avail. They were told posts were available but that institutions had to wait for the “green light” from “higher up” to place foreign nationals.
It’s an issue that is not getting enough coverage or is getting incorrect coverage, and it’s affecting many people’s professions, careers and opportunities.
— Bianca Moffett, MRC/Wits Agincourt Unit
“They referred us to provincial co-ordinators who are responsible for placement in each province. We were told spots were available but that without ID numbers, there is nothing they could do to help us,” she said.
Dineo Palatsane* from Lesotho said: “I did manage to apply and they confirmed my application, but when allocations were done they said ‘we currently cannot allocate you a post’, and when I called they told me the process was that South Africans will be placed first.”
The SA Medical Association told TimesLIVE Premium it had litigated against the department of health and cited lack of funding as the main problem behind interns not being placed.
“The National Treasury needs to allocate more funding to the DOH to increase the provision of doctors and interns in all areas. This requires an infrastructure of resources to be placed, such as securing of posts, training of interns that will bolster healthcare not only in cities but also in rural areas. The department of home affairs needs to include medical skills on the critical skills list to allow more doctors to work in SA. All efforts to bolster healthcare should be implemented, whether interns or doctors are local or foreign,” the organisation said.
Bianca Moffett, who works at the MRC/Wits Agincourt Unit but spoke in her personal capacity, said the problem is not the lack of skilled workers but of posts.
“It’s an issue that is not getting enough coverage or is getting incorrect coverage, and it’s affecting many people’s professions, careers and opportunities. People keep reporting on the lack of doctors, generalists and specialists, but there is very little reporting on the fact that the actual posts are not available. Many are looking for posts and either can’t find them or keep getting told there is no funding for posts,” she said.
* Not their real names. Students asked not to be identified, fearing possible retribution.
