Gauteng budgeted over R612m for salaries of 551 foreign medical professionals

Gauteng Health has budgeted R612,719,892 for compensation of foreign medical personnel for the 2026-27 financial year, the provincial department confirmed in a written reply to questions from ActionSA.

Who is on the payroll

The department says there are 551 foreign medical professionals on its payroll. Of those, 170 are in permanent employment and 186 are on temporary contracts. The department reported that 545 of the foreign employees are medical staff including specialists, doctors, nurses and technicians while six hold administrative support positions.

Political response

ActionSA raised questions about the province’s spending on foreign medical staff. ActionSA’s spokesperson on health and wellness, Emma More, described the situation as

“a slap in the face to South African graduates”

.

Context: staffing and unemployment in the health sector

An anti-illegal migrant organisation cited in the department’s exchanges characterised the hiring of foreign nationals at public institutions as widespread across a range of roles.

Research and professional body figures included in the material highlight broader staffing pressures: a Unisa study by S. Mohamed and A. V. Adeleke notes that the public sector provides healthcare access to 84% of patients but is severely understaffed, with 0.3 doctors per 1 000 people, well below the World Health Organization’s recommended 2.5 per 1 000.

The South African Medical Association provided a figure showing that more than 1 800 qualified doctors who have completed internships and community service remain unemployed in South Africa. The national department of health has attributed the unemployment of qualified doctors to severe budgetary constraints and frozen posts.

What the figures mean

The provincial budget line for foreigners’ compensation R612,719,892 for 2026-27 and the headcount of foreign medical staff are the facts the Gauteng department supplied in response to the political questions. Debate in political and professional circles centres on how those resources and posts relate to the large number of qualified South African doctors reported to be without public-sector employment.

Further details about individual appointments, salary scales or the departmental rationale for each post were not provided in the material supplied to ActionSA, and are not included here.