Young doctors who have completed community service are facing prolonged unemployment, leading to rising levels of stress, depression and emotional exhaustion.
A South African Medical Association Trade Union (Samatu) survey of 1,260 unemployed doctors reveals widespread feelings of hopelessness, anxiety and loss of purpose, with some doctors without work for more than two years.
Many doctors describe the sudden transition from full-time clinical work to unemployment as psychologically destabilising, leaving them uncertain about their futures and professional identities.
Dr Thabo Mbhele, who studied medicine at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, said he never imagined he would be unemployed in the profession.
The 26-year-old, born in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, said he wanted to specialise in orthopaedics.
“I never thought the system would be like this. To my surprise, when it’s our time to work, we experience such.
“This is the worst time of my life because I have dependents and the next thing you cannot support them because of the issues that we are currently facing. Sometimes it feels like a waste of studies,” he said.
Mbhele said he was demotivated and has started to look for work outside his profession.
“We need to provide, so we need to find some plan,” he said.
Mbhele said what scared him about the future was that it was uncertain.
“You don’t know whether you are going to work ever again. You are scared that you might never be in the specialty that you have always wanted to be in and this issue of job security is also a big part of this.
“Now you are dependent on locums [short-term shifts at hospitals, clinics, or GP practices] but you cannot do anything, so the future is uncertain. You cannot even promise your family that there is something that is going to come up,” he said.
When he entered the profession, he said, being a doctor meant bringing change.
“It was for me to make a change, giving people the best possible healthcare services as if you are in a private (setting). I wanted people to experience value from our services.
“It is totally unfair to me and the other people waiting because we are working hard and gaining so many skills, only for us to be left out. It is depressing, it’s like you wasted so many things if you can’t do what you intended to do in the first place,” he said.
This has been ongoing for about three to four years now, so it’s a persistent problem and I think the government has no appetite to put this to rest.
— Dr Talente Biyela, chairperson of the Samatu junior doctors committee
He said he was also stressed that staying out for a long period might compromise his skills given the changing nature of the career, procedures and the emergence of new research.
Samatu’s junior doctors committee said there is no urgency on government’s part to address the situation of unemployed doctors who have completed their community service.
The union said the issue has persisted for years due to the glaring negligence of the department of health, which has continuously chosen to ignore the crisis, despite the unwavering efforts of the union to engage the government in hopes of finding solutions.
Dr Talente Biyela, chairperson of the Samatu junior doctors committee, said what was frustrating about the government’s response was the lack of urgency. She said it was concerning as the problem was an annual occurrence.
“This has been ongoing for about three to four years now, so it’s a persistent problem and I think the government has no appetite to put this to rest,” she said.
Biyela said the last cohort that would have done community service and whose contracts ended in December 2025 numbered 1,891.
“Of that, only 411 are currently employed, which means 1,480 doctors are still unemployed.”
If the problem persisted, she said, South Africa was at risk of losing talent to other countries as some might consider international work.
Biyela said the crisis had taken a toll on many doctors.
“There are many issues that we are facing, even mental issues among affected doctors is skyrocketing now, people are expressing how depressed they are. They want to service their communities but they can’t because there is no contract in place,” she said.
The department of health was approached for comment, however, no response had been received by the time of publication.
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