SABC News reports that a group of unemployed pharmacists who have completed their community service have called on the Limpopo Department of Health (DOH) to employ them permanently.

The pharmacists picketed outside the DOH’s offices in Polokwane. Most of them were funded by the department to study pharmacy. They say that after spending two years doing their internships and community service training at rural hospitals, they have seen the dire need for pharmacists in the province. “I have been unemployed and we are here to seek employment since we just can’t sit and waste away the skills and knowledge that we gained, and waste investments that the government has invested in us,” said one of the protestors. Limpopo DOH’s Neil Shikwambana said there were currently no funds for employing additional pharmacists. ““There are basically no statutory requirements that say once a person has completed community service they must then come in. Now we understand the plight, it is not an ideal situation that they are out there unemployed but the reality is that there are many factors involved, there are issues of resources that would dictate to us how many health care professionals we need. The reality is that we might take as many health care professionals as possible but we also need support, because a pharmacist, even if they are in surplus, they cannot pull files, they cannot clean,” he indicated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at SABC News

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