CAPE TOWN — The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) has warned that South Africa’s public healthcare system is on the brink of collapse due to severe fiscal austerity, critical staff shortages, and decaying infrastructure.

According to health officials, the human resource crisis has escalated to a point where some state facilities are operating with a staggering ratio of just one doctor to over a thousand patients.

The union contends that systemic burnout among frontline workers and broken administrative leadership are actively crippling service delivery in public hospitals and clinics nationwide.

NEHAWU Parliamentary Officer Barry Mitchell directly blamed the National Treasury, stating that a decade of intentional budget cuts has forced facilities to freeze vital vacancies for doctors, nurses, cleaners, and porters.

Mitchell emphasized that these funding deficits not only cause massive queues outside clinics but also drive the remaining workforce to extreme exhaustion, directly compromising patient care.