The SA Medical Association (Sama) has condemned the nonpayment of medical interns working at state hospitals in Gauteng.

Senior doctors at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto are digging into their own pockets to assist the interns who have not been paid.

Sama spokesperson Dr Mzukwa Mvuyisi applauded the senior doctors for their good deeds but said the interns are employed and should be paid their salaries. 

He said the interns wouldn’t want to be seen as charity cases by their colleagues and urged the Gauteng department of health to urgently process the payments.

“We are disturbed by this. The state is pushing those interns into a state of depression. How should these interns behave in front of patients, while working on an empty stomach or while busy worrying about how they will get home because they don’t have money for transport?” Mvuyisi said.

One of the intern doctors who spoke to SowantanLIVE's TimesLIVE on condition of anonymity said it has not been easy to work without receiving any income. 

“I've been working here since January and I was looking forward to receiving my first salary at the end of the month but payday came and we were not paid. Nothing was communicated to us that we will not be paid, we only got the explanation when we went to HR to enquire,” the intern said. 

He said his love and passion for his job is what keeps him going.

In the past two months, he has relied on friends and family to help him cover his transport costs and rent. 

“This has stripped us of our dignity because you have to go and beg people to assist you so you can get by, while you are employed.

“Now I have nowhere else to go to borrow money. I owe everyone in my circle already. It would be pushing it if I go back to them again now.

“I'm pinning my hopes on what the senior doctors are doing here for us. It's very kind and thoughtful of them,” he said.

Spokesperson for the Gauteng health department Kwara Kekana confirmed to TimesLIVE that some of the interns at different medical facilities have not been paid since the beginning of the year.

According to Kekana, 56 medical interns placed at hospitals across the province have not been paid.

She said the department is working around the clock to resolve this.

“They are all going to be paid on Monday. That is next week,” Kekana told TimesLIVE.

She said the delays were caused by the late placement of medical interns by the national department of health before they could be appointed by the Gauteng department of health.

TimesLIVE