Ladies and gentlemen
This is an extraordinary media briefing because we don’t normally announce a package which is being negotiated in bargaining council. We believe that some of the figures in the media are totally incorrect and misleading and need to be clarified to avoid further confusion.
I wish to reiterate the statement are made publicly that the fact that doctors are underpaid is not up for debate because we are committed to address it. We wish to reiterate once more that health is one of our most important priorities and will do everything to make sure that our medical doctors and other health professionals are happy and remain in the system.
We wish to acknowledge that medical professionals have been underpaid for along time, we wish to put on record that the state is committed and doing the best we can to improve the working conditions of medical professionals. These medical professionals are providing an essential service to all South Africans and it is therefore important that their remuneration and working conditions are well taken care of.
One of the major challenges we face is the major discrepancies in salaries. For instance in an attempt to retain skills, provinces and institutions ended paying medical professionals different salaries in a desperate bid to retain and recruit especially in rural areas. For example, some provinces advertise positions at higher levels and end up appointing junior doctors in those positions.
One of the main objectives of Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD), among others, is to have single salary structure for all professionals according to their ranks and note according to where they find themselves either in institutions or provinces. This does not mean rural allowances are being done away with.
The salary package in the public sector includes Basic Salary, 13th Cheque, Medical Aid, Pension, Scarce Allowance, and Commuted Overtime and in some instances Rural Allowance. Each employee has the prerogative to structure their package according to their needs. This whole package has been lost in the public debate. It is for this reason that we need to explain that it is not correct that there is an intern who earns R117 500 per annum; this amount is the basic salary package that excludes all other benefits. The minimum total package paid to any intern ranges from R205 604 to R239 744.
In the proposed salary package, we intend to collapse all the ranges into one. It is our pleasure to announce a total cost of an intern to R314 023. This increment represents an increase ranging from 31% to 53%, with the lowest paid receiving a 53% and the highest paid will receive 31% to arrive at the same package. This differentiated increase will enable us to address the gross inequalities that existed across the health system.
The proposed salary package for Medical Officers (Community Service) who are contracted for a year will move from a range between R330 226 to R357 524 to a total salary package of R392 599. This represents a differentiated increment ranging from 9,8% to 18,9% to address the inequalities.
Principal and Chief Specialists (Professors) have been very difficult to retain in the system due to their high level skill due high demand locally and abroad. In our endeavour to retail them in the system, the proposed salary package is as follows:
* Principal specialists the package moves from R769 271 to R962 174, which represents 25,1% increase
* Chief specialists (Professors) from R932 399 to R1,2 million, which represents 29% increase
One of the most problematic areas of the present salary structure is that those who decide to study further took a major drop in salary. In order to address this disincentive to study, we are increasing registrar salaries from 18,3% to 60,1% to arrive at a salary package of R528 770, from a low of R330 226 to a high R446 853.
We wish to thank all the parties who have assisted us in developing these proposals, especially National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration.
While we acknowledge the delay in presenting this proposal for reasons beyond our control, and no dispute has been declared, we expect every individual to return to their work station while negotiations continue.
We would like to thank the union for their patience and understanding. We have no place for people who engage in illegal and wild strike. We condemn mavericks who have sought to undermine the negotiation and hope that the unions will bring all their members into line.
Issued by: Department of Health
24 June 2009
