South African pharmacy graduates face uncertainty amid internship crisis

Job scarcity makes it difficult for university students to secure internships and graduate. 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.

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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.

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