South African pharmacy graduates face uncertainty amid internship crisis

Hundreds of newly qualified pharmacy graduates across South Africa face an uncertain future after a sharp reduction in state-funded internship posts, sparking outrage from student groups, unions, and political organisations, who warn that the crisis exposes deeper failures in youth employment planning and public healthcare staffing.

The Economic Freedom Fighters Youth Command (EFFYC) has accused the Department of Health of abandoning pharmacy students from the Class of 2025, following drastic cuts to internship placements that are legally required for professional registration.

“In previous years, pharmacy graduates were guaranteed internship placements because internships are not optional. They are a structural requirement to enter the profession,” the EFF Youth Command said in a statement. “That social contract has now been broken.”

Internship placements are mandatory under the South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) framework. Without completing a year-long internship at an accredited training site, graduates cannot register as pharmacists, regardless of their academic qualifications.

The scale of the shortfall varies by province, but has been particularly stark in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

In Mpumalanga, only 17 pharmacy internship posts were released for 2026. In KwaZulu-Natal, the situation initially appeared even more severe when the provincial Health Department announced there would be no pharmacy internship posts at all due to budget constraints. Following public pressure, approximately 70 posts were later released, still leaving more than 140 qualified graduates without placements.

For affected students, the consequences are immediate and personal. Many have accumulated significant student debt, relocated for studies, and structured their lives around a clear pathway into professional practice. Without internships, their qualifications effectively stall.

“These are not statistics,” the EFF Youth Command said. “These are young people whose lives are suspended, families plunged into uncertainty, and futures placed on hold.”

The internship crisis comes at a time when South Africa’s public healthcare system is grappling with chronic staff shortages, medicine stock-outs, and growing patient backlogs. Pharmacy interns play a key role in hospitals and clinics, supporting medicine dispensing, compliance checks, stock management, and patient safety.

The KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga departments of Health did not respond to questions sent to them.

Health policy experts have long warned of a disconnect between training output and workforce absorption in the public sector. Universities continue to produce healthcare graduates, while provincial Health departments face shrinking compensation budgets under fiscal consolidation measures.

The EFF Youth Command argues that this reflects a political choice rather than a genuine lack of need.

“Public clinics are collapsing under pressure, yet trained professionals are being locked out of the system,” the organisation said. “This is not a numbers problem. It is a priority problem.”

The National Department of Health (NDoH) has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, but says it is constrained by budget limitations and the structure of the internship programme.

Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said the internship process is regulated by the South African Pharmacy Council and is not limited to the public sector.

“The pharmacist internship programme is designed to be undertaken at accredited training platforms in either the public or private sector,” Mohale said. “It is, therefore, not solely dependent on placement within the public service.”

Mohale added that within the public sector, internship posts are funded and managed at the provincial level and are subject to approved budgets, staff establishment ceilings, and broader human resource planning priorities.

“At present, fiscal constraints across provinces are affecting budgets for the cost of employment, which limits the number of funded internship posts that can be created and filled,” he said.

The department confirmed that concerns about the growing gap between the number of graduates and available posts have been raised through intergovernmental and sectoral forums. Graduates have been encouraged to seek placements in accredited private institutions and other non-public training platforms recognised by the SAPC.

However, students and advocacy groups argue that private-sector placements are limited, unevenly distributed, and often inaccessible to graduates without financial support or urban proximity.

The pharmacy internship crisis has also reignited broader debates about youth unemployment and the sustainability of South Africa’s training pipeline. According to Statistics South Africa, youth unemployment remains above 45%, with graduates increasingly joining the ranks of those unable to transition from education into work.

Labour analysts note that healthcare is one of the few sectors where skills shortages and unemployment coexist, largely due to budgetary constraints rather than a lack of demand.

The EFF Youth Command has called for an expansion of pharmacy internship posts for 2026 and the establishment of a long-term, publicly funded internship programme that guarantees placement for all qualifying healthcare graduates.

“Investing in young professionals is not an expense. It strengthens the healthcare system, reduces unemployment, and restores dignity,” the organisation said.

karabo.ngoepe@inl.co.za