Question NW318 to the Minister of Health

Reply:

1. The employment of Foreign Health Professionals is subject to the conditions contained in South African employment legislation (including, for the public sector, those conditions contained in the Public Service Act, 1994, as amended and the Public Service Regulations, 2001), as well as the provisions of the Immigration Act, 2002 as amended in 2004 (Immigration Act) and the Refugees Act, 1998 (Refugees Act) where applicable.

In accordance with Section 19(2)(a) of the immigration Act 2002, as amended, the employment of Foreign Health Professionals shall only be allowed on condition that there is record that no South African Citizen or Permanent Resident was available or found suitable to fill the particular post. In addition, no Foreign Health Professional is allowed to initially take up employment in a professional capacity or continue with such employment without a valid Work Permit or Refugee's Permit or Treaty Permit and with the appropriate registration with the relevant Health Professional Council in South Africa.

In line with the above Regulations, the Policy on Recruitment of Foreign Nationals informs that posts for internship and community service will be offered to non-South African citizens and refugees within available resources only after all South African citizens and Permanent Residents have been accommodated. The policy further states that, once South African citizens and permanent residents are accommodated, priority will be given to the allocation of non-South African citizens who graduated from South African Universities and finally non-South Africans who have been recognised by the relevant statutory council as being suitable for practice in South Africa. The allocation algorithm will continue to place applicants in this order until all applicants have been allocated or available sites have been exhausted.

a) (i) Applications received for Foreign Nationals for ICSP in each year since 2019:

Non-South African Applications
Field of study	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Audiologist	1	3	4	2	3	1
Clinical Psychologist	7	9	12	5	2	5
Dentist	18	6	10	11	18	11
Diagnostic Radiographer	17	23	33	13	13	12
Diagnostic Sonographer	0			0	1
Dietician	6	9	16	4	7	3
Environmental Health Practitioner	1	63	39	8	1	2
Medical Practitioner	83	27	38	13	11	5
Nuclear Medical Radiographer (Comm Service)	1	5	7	2	0	1
Occupational Therapist	8	7	11	6	4	2
Pharmacist	103	121	140	139	145	43
Physiotherapist	5	11	17	10	6	7
Professional Nurse	40	41	75	49	53	13
Radiotherapy	0	2	4	6	2	3
Speech Therapist	2	6	7	4	3	2
Internship	143	76	107	90	74	48
Grand Total	435	409	520	362	343	158

(ii) & (iii) In the reporting period of 1 January 2019 to 1 January 2024 only 2 foreign nationals were allocated in 2019 and 2023 on a self-funded accredited post or where resources permitted.

(b) There is no backlog of allocations as each Cycle is managed according to the number of applicants received against the number of available posts pertaining to the Cycle. Instead, applicants are always advised to apply in each cycle and treat that as a new application.

(c) Medical training offered across the 10 Medical Schools in South Africa has been accredited and accepted to fulfil the requirements to obtain Medical Degree. To register to practice as a Medical Doctor in South Africa as per the HPCSA Regulations, graduates are expected to undergo a two-year Internship Training programme. Accredited and funded posts for Internship programme are limited and as such unable to accommodate most Foreign Nationals.

It should be noted that the intention of hosting Foreign National African students to study in South Africa is to improve the human resources for health in the Region. Therefore, it is expected that foreign health professional graduates will return to their countries of origin to serve. Similarly, we expect our professionals to undergo Community Service before they can be recognised for independent practice registration.

2. Foreign students who study at various South African Medical Schools are continuously made aware of the above-mentioned processes and legislation throughout their duration of study. Furthermore, the Internship and Community Service Placement (ICSP) website clearly stipulates the allocation criteria. Lastly, the foreign graduates who would have applied still get reminded through the letter of decline the reasons for their ineligibility.

END