SOUTH African unemployed doctors have been protesting once again, launching their third sit-in of the year outside KwaZulu-Natal’s Office of the Premier on Monday morning, demanding that provincial posts be advertised immediately.
Thamsanqa Zakwe and Nosihle Hlophe, members of the organising committee for the sit-in, said previous protest actions had failed to deliver the desired outcome – namely, the posting of jobs and meaningful engagement with Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane and Premier Thami Ntuli.
Zakwe said the first sit-in took place in January, and the second was held in March at the premier’s office.
Hlophe estimated that both sit-ins lasted between three and five days.
They said the latest protest was prompted by the prolonged delay in advertising doctor posts in the province, following Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s earlier announcement that new positions would be made available.
In April this year, it was reported that Motsoaledi had announced 1,200 doctors’ posts, 200 nursing positions and 250 other healthcare vacancies had been approved by the department at a cost of R1,78 billion.
The doctors said that since that announcement, other provinces have posted positions, but KZN has not.
‘There is funding for these positions, so why have they not been advertised yet?’ asked Zakwe. ‘Until we see posts in this province being advertised, we will remain here.’
He added that, in addition to having the posts made available, the group wants an explanation for the delay.
Hlophe said the most disheartening part of waiting for a post as an unemployed doctor is knowing how desperately they are needed in the public healthcare system.
She said: ‘We have many friends who have managed to get posts, and they tell us how under-resourced and overworked they are because there are not enough doctors in their hospitals.’
Meanwhile, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), in a statement issued on behalf of SAFTU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, said: ‘It notes with deep concern the latest Quarterly Employment Statistics (QES) for the first quarter of 2025, released on Monday by Statistics South Africa.
‘While the figures paint a bleak picture of a shrinking labour market, they come as no surprise.
‘They confirm once again that the South African economy is in a deep structural crisis – one that cannot be overcome without a decisive break from neoliberal policy orthodoxy and a new agenda focused on redistribution, industrialisation, and democratic planning.
‘The QES shows that total employment fell by 74,000 jobs quarter-on-quarter, from 10,653,000 in December 2024 to 10,579,000 in March 2025.
‘Sectors hardest hit include:
- Trade: -52,000
- Community Services:
-17,000
- Mining: -4,000
- Business Services: -1,000
- Construction: -1,000
- Electricity: -1,000
‘While manufacturing registered a small increase of 2,000 jobs, the sector is still down by 95,000 jobs year-on-year between March 2024 and March 2025.
‘Full-time employment declined by 55,000 jobs quarter-on-quarter, while part-time employment fell by 19,000.
‘This continued erosion of jobs comes on top of a deep and persistent unemployment crisis.
‘12.7 million working-age people are unemployed, 80% of them for more than a year.
‘Even those in precarious and informal jobs are not spared.
‘The QES shows that part-time employment declined by 55,000 year-on-year, highlighting the extent of job losses even among those already surviving on the margins.
‘These figures expose, once again, the failure of South Africa’s neoliberal economic model.
‘The country remains trapped in a colonial, extractivist pattern – exporting raw materials while importing finished goods.
‘Since the adoption of GEAR in 1996, this model has devastated domestic manufacturing, flooded our markets with imports, and turned the working class into passive consumers instead of productive participants in the economy.
‘The myth that private capital, especially foreign direct investment, will lead the economy to recovery has failed spectacularly. In the first quarter of 2025, GDP grew by just 0.1%, narrowly avoiding recession.
‘Meanwhile, private corporations are sitting on an estimated R1.7 trillion in unused reserves, refusing to invest in production or jobs.
‘This investment strike by private capital is compounded by the collapse of public sector investment.
‘The result is a catastrophic failure to expand economic capacity, build infrastructure, or reindustrialise the economy.
‘According to verified data:
- Private sector fixed
investment is only 10.8%
of GDP
- Public sector investment
adds a mere 4.3% of
GDP
- Total Gross Fixed Capi
tal Formation (GFCF) is
thus around 15% of GDP
‘To reach the 6% annual GDP growth rate necessary to meaningfully reduce unemployment, South Africa must raise total investment to over 30% of GDP.
‘Instead, both public and private investment remain at barely half that level.
‘And yet, even the limited productive infrastructure that already exists is criminally underutilised.
‘According to the Reserve Bank and recent surveys by industry bodies, manufacturing capacity utilisation hovers between 77% and 79%, meaning up to a quarter of available production capacity lies idle.
‘This is not due to a lack of ability or labour – it is due to disinvestment, load-shedding, collapsing logistics (ports, rail, roads), cheap imports, and a policy vacuum that discourages localisation and reindustrialisation.
‘In other words, factories stand half-empty while millions are jobless.
‘There has never been a coherent industrialisation strategy rooted in value addition, beneficiation, or economic diversification.
‘Government after government has capitulated to the logic of market liberalisation and multinational control.
‘Domestic markets have been opened to cheap imports, local industries destroyed, and critical sectors surrendered to foreign capital.
‘The consequences are clear:
- Mass unemployment
- Extreme inequality
- Collapsing public
services
- Under-resourced schools
and hospitals
- Crime, drug abuse, and
gender-based violence
- Hopelessness among the
youth and working class
communities
‘The so-called Government of National Unity (GNU) offers no hope of change.
‘Instead, it doubles down on neoliberal dogma through Operation Vulindlela and continued austerity.
‘This policy framework is incapable of resolving the structural crises of unemployment, poverty, and inequality.
‘SAFTU calls on all workers, progressive trade unions, community movements and civil society organisations to unite and demand:
- A break with austerity
and neoliberalism
- A mass public invest
ment programme to
rebuild infrastructure
and reindustrialise
- The launch of a democ
ratic public works
programme
- Full use of existing man
ufacturing capacity and
active import substitu
tion
- A new economic model
based on social owner
ship, redistribution, and
worker control
- Urgent action to protect
and create jobs, and end
the investment strike by
both private and public
institutions
‘The working class cannot wait. We must fight for a new economy that puts people before profit.’
