Cape Town - Cabinet has made a special appeal to those state doctors who have gone on strike to return to work as a matter of urgency.
Addressing the media on Thursday following an ordinary Cabinet meeting, Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said that while government had listened to and understood the doctors' plight, citizens must not be deprived of the constitutional rights to quality health care.
"Government calls on all the medical professionals who are still on strike to return to work and resume their duties with immediate effect," Mr Maseko.
He said that addressing the salary levels of doctors was a national priority for government.
However, the labour dispute was doing considerable harm and adding more strain to an already strained public health sector and in the process, depriving ordinary South Africans access to desperately needed health care.
The doctors, mostly from hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, embarked on an illegal strike last week demanding the implementation of the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD), which is an adjustment of salary grades for public servants.
While doctors rejected last week's salary offer, which would have seen some receiving a salary increment of up to 60 percent, government presented a revised offer on Tuesday
Mr Maseko explained that this was government's final offer and that the unions had agreed to communicate the details of the offer to their members for consideration.
"The meeting expressed the hope that the unions will do all they can to ensure that details of the offer is properly explained to their members so that an agreement could be signed sooner rather than later as the offer represents an improvement in the salaries of the medical staff," he said.
Mr Maseko said government acknowledged the challenges regarding the working conditions of medical professionals and acknowledged that the working conditions of doctors needed to be addressed.
"Our offer demonstrates willingness to begin the process of addressing the low salary levels, government believes that a lot of work still needs to be done to improve the pay issues as well as the broader challenges regarding the provision of access to quality health care to the majority of South Africans."
Mr Maseko said that the offer was reasonable, although is did not address all the needs of the striking doctors.
"It does go a long way towards meeting the requirements of doctors. We believe that the negotiators need to be given a chance to finalise the deal. Government has indeed bent over backwards to accommodate a lot of the demands of the doctors."
The unions have said that offer is an improved one, but that it would take the offer back to its members for consideration, he said.
The offer is valid for 21 days.
Despite the negotiations continuing at the Bargaining Council between the department and the South African Medical Association, doctors continue to participate in an illegal strike.
Doctors in KwaZulu-Natal have demanded the reinstatement of more than 200 provincial doctors, who were dismissed for failing to heed the court order which had been obtained by provincial Health Department.
The interdict had ordered them to report back for work on Monday.
Me Maseko said that Cabinet had noted that these strikes were illegal. ""If the wild cat strikes continue government is going to be forced to resort to drastic measures such as more interdicts being applied for."
He explained that those doctors who had been fired would have to reapply for their positions. The posts will be advertised and all doctors will be invited to apply.
