THERE is relief at some health facilities around the country as the Ministry of Health has filled 52 vacancies in the nursing cadre, with some workers already deployed.
The ministry, through the Civil Service Commission (CSC), has promoted 16 senior officials within the health service and recruited 36 other healthcare workers, some of whom have already been deployed.
The 52 vacancies are part of the 92 posts that had been approved by the Ministry of Public Service, following two waiver approvals, the first of which had initially granted the Ministry of Health 11 posts. Otherwise, the ministry had reported that it had a total of 480 vacancies.
Ministry of Health Communications Officer, Nsindiso Tsabedze, said some of the hired healthcare workers were deployed at Mbabane, Mankayane and Pigg’s Peak Government Hospitals, Phalala Fund, Malindza Refugee Camp Clinic, KaMfishane Clinic and Tikhuba Clinic.
He said the healthcare workers were hired between July 31–August 12. Tsabedze said the 52 vacancies within the nursing cadre included 16 senior positions comprising nursing sisters matron (10), matron I (three) and matron II (three). The ministry’s communications officer said these were internally promoted and that the process had been completed.
Also, Tsabedze said the ministry was in the process of filling 36 more vacancies in the positions of nursing assistants, staff nurses and general nurses, and that suitable candidates for the positions had already been identified.
“It should be noted that 20 of the 36 healthcare workers have already been hired and deployed,” he said.
When unpacking the 20 deployed workers, Tsabedze said out of 10 vacancies, five were hired. Meanwhile, all 11 needed staff nurses were deployed, while only four of 15 required nursing assistants were deployed to facilities around the country.
“The CSC is still to interview more nursing sisters and nursing assistants to complete the recruitment process of this cadre,” stated Tsabedze.
Further, he said six medical officers were hired and an additional 10 vacancies for paramedics were also filled.
Additionally, Tsabedze mentioned that there would be other internal job opportunities for mortuary attendants, senior medical officers, and senior dental officers, although he did not specify the exact vacancies.
On behalf of the Ministry of Health, Tsabedze appreciated the support from the Ministry of Public Service and Civil Service Commission in permitting the ministry to fill some of the vacancies, amid the challenges faced by the health sector in the country.
He also said the ministry was working around the clock to ensure that enough drugs and medical supplies were also availed to hospitals for the benefit of Emaswati.
The human resource challenge had been acknowledged by the ministry as in the ministry’s first-quarter performance report, Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula admitted that staffing remained a serious challenge across the healthcare system.
Matsebula stated that the approval to fill 92 out of 480 declared vacancies was a critical step, especially in implementing the Human Resource for Health (HRH) Strategy 2025–2030. He said this milestone marked progress towards addressing the challenge, though it still left a deficit of 388 critical posts that continue to strain service delivery in medical, nursing, pharmaceutical and administrative departments.
He added that this imbalance continued to negatively impact healthcare delivery across the country.
This was evident on the ground as healthcare workers in government facilities had on numerous occasions expressed their frustrations over protracted human resource shortages.
These facilities include the Mbabane Government Hospital where workers picketed within the facility and further marched to the Ministry of Health, Cabinet offices and Parliament to register their concerns in the form of a petition delivery.
They had eight demands, which included the call for urgent recruitment of additional healthcare workers to reduce burnout and improve service delivery.
Likewise, workers based at Mankayane Government Hospital also had similar challenges, and in an effort to amplify their grievances pertaining not only to human resource shortages, but inefficient medical supplies and drugs, they went as far as capping the number of patients they attended to 20 at a time. Their argument was that if they allowed all patients into the premises, they became aggressive and complained of slow service, yet if they attended to a smaller number they were manageable.
