ActionSA questions Gauteng’s R612m foreign healthcare spend as local doctors stay unemployed

Gauteng Health has budgeted more than R612 million for the salaries of foreign national healthcare professionals in the 2026/2027 financial year, a figure revealed in a written reply by Health MEC Faith Mazibuko. The province’s spending on foreign healthcare professionals has prompted criticism from ActionSA, which says South African doctors and nurses are being overlooked.

Numbers from the department

The written reply states the Gauteng Department of Health employs 551 foreign healthcare professionals. Of those, 545 work in medical roles including specialists, doctors, nurses and clinical technicians while six are in administrative positions. Employment types among the 551 include 170 on permanent contracts and 186 in temporary positions.

The department’s spending on foreign healthcare professionals has remained above R600 million over the past three financial years, with allocations of R616,309,957 in 2024/2025 and R617,622,852 in 2025/2026, the reply said.

ActionSA voices concern

ActionSA Gauteng Health and Wellness spokesperson Emma More said the figures raise questions about recruitment priorities.

“This high expenditure is a direct slap in the face to the thousands of homegrown medical professionals who have been abandoned by the state,”

More said.

More argued the figures show a failure to prioritise South African healthcare professionals while public facilities face staffing challenges.

“This shocking revelation highlights a government that continues to overlook the country’s own healthcare professionals despite persistent staff shortages across public health facilities,”

she said.

More said qualified South African doctors and nurses were struggling to find employment while the province continued to allocate significant funding towards foreign healthcare professionals.

“At a time when many South African doctors and nurses are unable to secure employment, the Gauteng Department of Health must explain why local talent is being sidelined instead of being given the opportunity to serve their communities,”

she said.

On budget constraints and funded posts

More accused the department of relying on “budget constraints” and a “lack of funded posts” as explanations for not absorbing unemployed South African medical graduates.

“The department continuously shields its failure to hire these young, patriotic professionals under the guise of ‘budget constraints’ and a lack of funded posts,”

she said.

She said the continued spending on foreign healthcare professionals was unfair to South African graduates trained through public resources.

“Taxpayers fund the heavy bursaries and university training of our medical students, only for the provincial government to refuse to absorb them into a public healthcare system that is chronically understaffed and falling apart at the seams,”

More said.

Calls for audits and absorption plans

ActionSA said it would request a phased local absorption plan from the Gauteng Health Department that outlines how qualified unemployed South African doctors and nurses could be prioritised as contracts held by foreign professionals expire. The party also said it would push for an audit of the 551 foreign healthcare professionals to ensure compliance with professional registration requirements and valid immigration status, and that it would engage the Gauteng Provincial Treasury over the R612 million compensation allocation.

More acknowledged the role of foreign professionals in specialised areas but said this should not be the default.

“While ActionSA respects the contributions of legal, specialised international skills where critical shortages exist, it cannot become the default baseline while our own graduates are forced to look for employment abroad or abandon the public service,”

she said.

Unemployment figures cited

ActionSA referred to data from the South African Medical Association Trade Union (SAMATU) showing that, of nearly 1,900 doctors who completed statutory community service at the end of 2025, about 1,480 remained unemployed weeks later.

What the party will do next

ActionSA said it would seek explanations from the Gauteng Department of Health and engage provincial treasury over the allocation, arguing the funding should be reassessed to create more opportunities for unemployed South African medical professionals.