On his CapeTalk show this morning, host Lester Kiewit indicated nurses are not well remunerated. According to the internet, the average nurse salary is R330,000, a year (R27,500 a month). I daresay this excludes benefits. Public sector salaries across the board are generally above the private sector by - numbers vary - 30%. So public health nurses would earn more than their private peers.
The average salary (across all employed) in SA is R28,200 per StatsSA so nurses are about there.
Related, a Bhekikisa Health article republished in Daily Maverick a couple months ago quoted a Health Department official who stated junior doctors earn R800-900,000 a year (R66,000-75,000 a month) excluding overtime. A senior doctor over R1 million. That's one reason why they can't hire more doctors, he said.
Per internet, the average salary for an (experienced) private GP is R550K; starting salary for a junior GP R22K. Both categories are what professionals - lawyers, teachers, engineers etc - earn.
Incidentally, junior doctors in the UK's NHS earn £36,600-42,000. The lower figure is the same as their SA peers in rands. Average nurse salary in UK is £30,000, but can be as high as £40,000. (The average salary in the UK is £46,000 a year, including bonuses.)
SA's public health doctors are exceptionally, excessively well paid by local income standards and on par with international doctor peers after converting to respective local currencies. In SA nurses are paid as well as most skilled workers. Statements that they and others like teachers and even police are underpaid is false.
My point is don't feel sorry for SA's public workers - they're very well taken care of, better than private sector workers - the national budget's problems indicate it. And when they retire they draw government pensions, and many among them, SASSA pensions too despite the latter being means tested. This is so unfair when many people are excluded because they purportedly don't qualify for grants.
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