Chairperson, Deputy Minister, the crisis with South Africa's health professionals is not due to the supply of doctors and nurses, but due to the lack of funding for critical vacancies. This is despite the fact that annually, the country's higher education institutions and those abroad are producing graduates in this field.
In light of the devastating budget that was tabled by the Minister of Finance a couple of weeks ago, which shows that the Health budget is set to be slashed by almost R4 billion in the next three years or medium term, it is clear that filling vacant posts is going to be near impossible for you and your department. So, how do you intend on filling critical vacant posts that are at the critical coalface of service delivery with the impending budget cuts?