The Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA) plays a vital role in developing the human capital needed to sustain South Africa’s healthcare and welfare systems. Through the skills levy, HWSETA channels resources into training nurses, social workers, caregivers, and allied health professionals, ensuring alignment with the National Skills Development Plan 2030. Its mandate is critical at a time when healthcare is both under pressure and full of opportunity.

South Africa faces a paradox in its health labour market. Despite an urgent shortage of healthcare workers particularly nurses, community health workers, and social care professionals, thousands of nursing graduates are unable to secure placements. This contradiction leads to the first question, how can South Africa address the paradox of nursing graduates struggling to find placements despite critical shortages of healthcare workers across the system? Policy reforms, streamlined internship programmes, and improved coordination between provincial health departments and training institutions are urgently needed to absorb qualified graduates into the system.

The rise of digital health, social enterprises, and new models of care also presents opportunities for youth employment and innovation. Small and medium-sized enterprises in telemedicine, community clinics, and mobile health apps are creating new pathways into the care economy. This brings us to the second question; what role can SMEs, social enterprises, and digital health solutions play in creating new employment pathways for youth in the healthcare and welfare sectors? Supporting these innovations with investment, regulatory clarity, and market access could help unlock thousands of jobs in the future health economy.

At the same time, rising costs and restructuring in private healthcare are leading to retrenchments among doctors, nurses, and support staff. This leads to the third pressing question, in the face of retrenchments in private healthcare due to rising costs and restructuring, what policies could redirect displaced professionals into public and community health services where demand is highest? The answer lies in creating flexible transition pathways, funding community healthcare programmes, and ensuring that retrenched professionals can continue contributing to the broader system.

Large players such as Netcare, Life Healthcare, and Mediclinic illustrate both the challenges and opportunities in the sector. While private operators face rising financial pressures, the public sector continues to experience shortages. Bridging this divide is essential to ensuring that South Africa’s health workforce is fully utilised.

The health and welfare sector is the foundation of inclusive development and must urgently unlock pathways for youth, support innovation, and ensure that no healthcare professional is left idle, South Africa can turn the health sector into both a driver of employment and a pillar of resilience.