Doctors to challenge law regulating practices

THE South African Medical Association (Sama) is considering legal action after a law that will regulate where doctors can work was quietly put into operation last month.

"We are looking at options – legal action is one of the considerations," Sama chairman Dr Mzukisi Grootboom said.

He said the government was very much aware of objections to the legislation as former President Thabo Mbeki had agreed to withdraw it in 2003 after discussions with doctors.

He said Sama understood the good intentions of the law and that doctor shortages in provinces, like the Eastern Cape, had to be addressed. - Estelle Ellis