Gauteng reports shortage of nearly 4,000 nurses — TimesLIVE

In South Africa’s Gauteng province, the public healthcare system is operating beyond its planned capacity, while medical facilities lack nearly 4,000 nurses. This was stated by Faith Mazibuko, the province’s member of the executive council for health, TimesLIVE reports.

According to Mazibuko, more than 20 million patient contacts with healthcare services were recorded in the 2025/26 financial year. Provincial hospitals treated nearly 5.8 million outpatients and admitted 670,807 people.

Overcrowded hospitals

The official cited Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital as an example. It is officially designed for 1,500 patients, while the number of beds there is now approaching 2,000. She explained that due to overcrowding, patients may wait a long time for an available place in emergency departments.

According to her, the greatest burden is borne by four academic hospitals: Baragwanath, Charlotte Maxeke, Dr George Mukhari and Steve Biko. Mazibuko noted that they serve patients not only from South Africa but also from other African countries.

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Queues at clinics and staff shortages

The province’s primary healthcare facilities received 8,026,972 patients in 2025/26, while outreach programmes reached another 8,491,700 people. Combined, this amounts to approximately 33 million contacts with the healthcare system during the financial year, Mazibuko said.

She stressed that nurses are overworked and exhausted, causing some of them to retire early. At the same time, there are unemployed doctors in the province, but the authorities cannot hire more specialists because of staffing and budget constraints.

According to Mazibuko, many clinics lack space for patients and even waiting areas, so people queue outside buildings in rain or cold weather. The department purchased mobile clinics under the Siyabaphilisa programme because, for some residents, travel to a medical facility costs more than 45 rand.

The official also called on business representatives to cooperate with the authorities in building hospitals in Diepsloot and Olivenhoutbosch, as well as in modernising outdated clinics.