Minister dismisses South Sudan jobs adverts

Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has dismissed advertisements inviting registered nurses to apply for jobs in South Sudan.

He said his ministry was not aware of the said advertisements and had no agreement yet with the north-east African country.

"Both the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the South Sudanese Embassy are not aware of the adverts in the media inviting State Registered Nurses to seek employment in South Sudan.

"This was only brought to the attention of the ministry through the question from Parliament," said Dr Parirenyatwa.

He was responding to a question from Chiredzi Central MP Denford Masiya on the Government's position regarding the nurses.

"We are asking the Honourable Minister of Health and Child Care to state whether he is aware of the advertisements in the media inviting state registered nurses to seek employment in South Sudan. If so, can the minister apprise the House of their employment benefits and allay fears that they may be exploited?" asked Masiya.

He also asked Dr Parirenyatwa to assure the House that the nurses would be safe from the civil war in South Sudan and to indicate how many Zimbabwean nurses had taken up the offer.

Dr Parirenyatwa, however, said there were negotiations in that regard for a bilateral agreement on the exportation of health workers.

"Work is still in progress on a government to government agreement with the South Sudanese government on a bilateral agreement on the export of health workers.

"Should the government to government agreement be finalised, such issues will be looked into with advice from the Attorney-General's office," he said.

"This will be discussed with the South Sudanese government at the appropriate time. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through their embassy, will be able to give guidance on security matters".

The government this year revised the nursing staff establishment to 25 000, up from about 16 500 to match the current burden of care being experienced by public health institutions.

It is estimated that 3 500 nurses are unemployed after they failed to secure positions locally following the Government freeze on recruitment due to limited funds.

Zimbabwe trains at least 1 000 nurses yearly, but has been failing to absorb them all into the civil service as the Government cannot meet the attendant salary bill.

The authorities are only engaging new personnel to replace retirees, the deceased and those who resign.

South Sudan is piecing together national systems following years of civil war which destroyed social infrastructure and inhibited further construction and training of professionals.

Early this year, South Sudan indicated that it wanted 20 000 Zimbabweans to work in different fields in the North African country.

The graduates would be paid United Nations international rates for expatriates which are far more than salaries most Zimbabweans are paid in foreign countries.