Address by the MEC for Health and Social Development Mr Seaparo Sekoati on the occasion of Welcmong United Nations Volunteer Doctors

26 September 2006
Venue: Gateway International Airport
Time:18h00

Programme Director
Clr. Betty Kgare
MPL Pharephare Muthupi
UND Residence
Representative Chris Opa
HOD Dr. Dlamini 
Departmental Offcials
UNV Doctors 
Ladies and Gentlemen

About a month ago we welcomed eleven doctors and their families from the Islamic Republic of Iran. I once more again feel honoured to receive yet another group of doctors and this time from various countries but came through the United Nations Volunteers programme.

We are humbled by your presence and decision of choosing to serve the people of South Africa and in particular our province. We are still looking forward to welcoming some of your colleagues who will be joining us in October.

We are also hoping that we will be able to reach an agreed target in March. Limpopo is one of the nine provinces in the Republic of South Africa. It is situated in the northern part of the country.

It shares borders with Botswana in the west, Zimbabwe in the north and Mozambique in the east. Limpopo is one of the biggest provinces covering 123910 square kilometers and a population that is 10,2% of the entire country.

Limpopo is largely rural and poor with vast areas of farming with Polokoane as its capital. It is divided into five districts, namely, Mopani, Sekhukhuni, Capricorn, Vhembe and Waterburg. The Department of Health and Social Development will be your host during your stay in South Africa.

The department runs an annual budget of R5,4b (about +- 900 US dollars and sure about the Iranian Rial exchange). We have 39 hospitals, 408 clinics and 28 Community Health Centres all spread throughout the six districts. You will be deployed to some of the hospitals in the districts.

I want to assure you that your stay in Limpopo will be a memorable one. Those with families we hope that your spouses will integrate well into the economic activities and your children will be absorbed in our schools. Since we are a secular state, we hope that you will be able to practice your respective regions without fear.

There is diversity and tolerance and we do not expect you to experience problem in practicing your culture and religion. It is common knowledge that like other many developing countries we are faced with a chronic shortage of health professionals.

Rural provinces like ours are the most hard hit precisely of the fact that health professionals are moving from rural to urban, from public to private and from developing countries to the developed first world countries, where the working conditions are said to be better compared to ours.

However as a country we are not just folding our hands. We have just launched a national human resource plan on the 7th April this year, the intention is to develop the capacity to produce enough health professionals for our country and have the ability to retain them.

Besides the assistance of foreign health professional, we are also training more local including training mid level health professionals, like assistant pharmacists, assistant doctors, and other categories as an attempt to alleviate the chronic shortage of these health professionals.

National Health Council has also decided as part of the strategy to retain the health professional to review the remuneration package to watch other professionals and also as recognition of an important role played by health professions in our country.

As opposed the hearsay, South Africa has an HIV and AIDS comprehensive plan and through this program we put more emphasis on prevention, those that are positive we encourage then to live a health lifestyle which includes an exercises and nutritious diet, while those below 200 are given an option of being on the ARV programme.

Most of our detractors have decided to selectively pick up issues on nutritious diet include beetroot, garlic and lemon and ignore the rest. Our emphasis has always been that good nutrition is critical for people living with HIV.

Our country and Province are dynamic, vibrant politics and very active in the continent and well politics. We hope most of you will be around when we host the 2010 world cup and by then you will have converted in South African team supporters.

The provincial government and my department will ensure that you receive the necessary support in both the professional and social life. Welcome to Limpopo and South Africa at large.

We hope you will have a memorable stay and work in the beautiful and peaceful province of ours so that by the time agreement is reviewed in 2007, you will have decided to make this province your sweet home.

I thank you.

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