SA faces a decline in services as young vets emigrate

A survey by the South African Veterinary Association (Sava) has found that a fifth of the vets aged 25 to 29 polled were emigrating because of economic and safety concerns, leaving the country with insufficient services.

The organisation raised concerns about the removal of vets from the Department of Home Affairs’s scarce skills list, saying that it was never consulted, despite representing more than half the vets in the country.

Sava’s managing director, Gert Steyn, said the profession was stunned when the department took vets off the critical skills list in February last year.

“[Since then] we have been in constant engagement with the relevant authorities and will report any progress made in regard to this,” he said.

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