The National Health Department has conceded that South Africa’s health sector is severely overburdened, with an urgent need to hire more nurses to address critical staffing shortages.
Out of the 140,000 nurses employed in the public sector, only 27,000 are available to care for the majority of South Africans who rely on public healthcare—approximately 60 million people without medical aid. Compounding the crisis, a significant portion of the nursing workforce is nearing retirement, further straining an already fragile system.
Nurses Overworked and Under-Resourced
Nursing unions have welcomed the Health Department’s acknowledgment of the crisis, following Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s allocation of R290 billion to the health sector in the 2025 budget. However, frontline workers say systemic issues persist, leading to exhaustion, low morale, and frustration.
Former professional nurse Rosina Lee described the daily struggles: “You feel frustrated. We are almost frustrated on a daily basis because of the shortage of staff and material resources. We couldn’t even accommodate all the patients that needed healthcare due to infrastructure constraints.”
Lee added that 12-hour shifts leave nurses physically and emotionally drained, with many working only for a salary rather than passion for the profession.
One Nurse for Hundreds of Patients
The South African Nursing Council (SANC) has 268,000 nurses on its registry, but many are retired, working abroad, or employed in the private sector. In reality, only about 100,000 nurses remain actively serving in the public sector, where they cater to 85% of the population.
Nurses often perform non-medical duties due to understaffing. “We had to assist where we could because patients were our first priority,” Lee said.
Systemic Failures Worsen Crisis
Shortages were attributed to several factors, including the closure of nursing colleges, rapid population growth, and an influx of foreign nationals relying on public healthcare.
“The shortage of nurses in public hospitals is a longstanding issue worsened by deeper systemic problems,” Teaser said. “Our dilapidated healthcare system makes it difficult to retain nurses.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic Nursing Union of South Africa (DENOSA) highlighted the disparity between private and public sectors. While private healthcare serves only 14.7% of the population (those with medical aid), public nurses bear the overwhelming burden.
Retirements and Resignations Loom
The Health Department revealed that nearly 27,000 nurses are between the ages of 50 and 64, with 272 set to retire this year. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, over 14,000 nurses have left the profession due to resignations, retirements, or death.
Projections indicate a shortage of 62,000 nurses by 2030 if urgent interventions are not implemented.
Finance Minister Acknowledges Crisis
During his budget speech, Finance Minister Godongwana read a letter from a UCT medical student detailing dire conditions in public hospitals:
“Working in a public hospital with way too few resources punches you in the gut every day… Nurses stop at the shop to buy their own gloves and masks because the clinic has run out.”
The R290 billion health budget aims to address some challenges, but unions and the Health Department agree that immediate recruitment of medical staff is essential to relieve overburdened nurses.
The Way Forward
With an ageing nursing workforce and rising healthcare demands, South Africa’s public health system stands at a breaking point. Stakeholders are calling for accelerated nurse training, better retention strategies, and improved working conditions to prevent a full-blown collapse.
As the nation grapples with these challenges, the question remains: Will the government’s interventions be enough to heal an ailing system?