The union is set to march to the National Treasury to demand urgent action on jobs and healthcare reform. With over 800 qualified doctors remaining unemployed after completing their training, SAMATU is pushing for government intervention to address the crisis in the health sector. SA currently has a doctor-to-patient ratio of about 0.3 doctors per 1 000 people.

Dr Cedric Sihlangu, General Secretary of SAMATU, stated that all affected healthcare professionals would join the march.

"In all the nine provinces, the MECs for Health and Premiers, as well as the National Department of Health, have cited budget cuts and austerity measures from Treasury as the sole cause of this perpetual underfunding of critical healthcare posts. This underfunding also results in the non-maintenance of critical facilities and broken equipment, leading to a deplorable state of affairs in the health sector," Sihlangu explained.

--SABC/ChannelAfrica--