Africa-Press – South-Africa. When Jack* saw a government post for medical officer vacancies at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, he was excited as he had been unemployed for a year, and at least hoped he would be called for an interview.
He completed his community service in the rural North West province last year and had been applying to public health facilities nationwide with no luck.
Little did he realise that he would encounter difficulty in checking whether his job application was registered, never mind considered.
“I saw the post on the SA Docs website and applied in mid-August. The closing date was 8 September. Two weeks after the closing date, I made a follow-up on the application,” he said.
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He said he was shocked and frustrated that, when he called the hospital to enquire about the progress of the application, the woman who answered asked him many questions about the post.
“She had no clue about the post, and she asked me if I knew Panyaza Lesufi, the premier of Gauteng. She said the vacancies were advertised by his office, not the hospital or departments, and no post exists. This is extremely disheartening and frustrating.”
News24 saw the advert, which stated: “Provincial Administration: Gauteng Department of Health. It is the department’s intention to promote equity through the filling of all numeric targets as contained in the Employment Equity Plan. To facilitate this process successfully, an indication of race, gender and disability status is required.”
The advert had more than 29 posts for medical officers with a salary of R906 540 per annum (all-inclusive package).
“Applicant (sic) should be hand delivered to human resources at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital between 8:00 and 15:00,” read the advert.
Jack said he had hand delivered his CV at the hospital before the closing date.
He said:
Lesufi’s spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the premier’s office had no knowledge of the advert, and he referred questions to the Gauteng Department of Health.
Its spokesperson, Motaletale Modiba, said the advert appeared to have been “copied” from the original posts advertised by Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on behalf of the Wits circuit facilities (Chris Hani, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital, and Helen Joseph Hospital.
“The original advert was placed on the Department of Public Service and Administration’s weekly jobs circular. The applications opened on 24 August and closed on 08 September. There were contract positions,” he said.
He said the advert was not placed on any other platforms other than that of the DPSA.
“It must be pointed out that the department does not use the portal sadocs.online to advertise posts,” Modiba added.
Successful applicants would hear back within three months after the closing date.
The department asked for Jack’s details so it could check if he appeared on the system, and also to find out who had told him that the posts do not exist.
The outcome of this process has not yet been finalised.
The adverts come two months after Lesufi introduced the Nasi iSpani programme.
The programme is a recruitment drive launched on Youth Day to connect unemployed youths to jobs in the province.
“The processing of the posts under Nasi iSpani is still under way due to the huge volume of applications received generally,” he said.
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