Young vets deployed to State Vet offices for a year
A total of 31 newly qualified young veterinarians have joined the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs on a 12-month Compulsory Community Service (CCS) programme supported by the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD).
These vets have since been placed in state vet offices in all municipalities in the Nkangala, Gert Sibande, Ehlanzeni Districts and Bohlabela region respectively, with an aim to bring veterinary services and animal healthcare closer to rural areas across the province. They will be rendering services to pets and livestock alike, ensuring animal health.
The CCS programme started in 2016, and besides taking scarce skills closer to far-flung areas, it also aims to present on-the-job experience to the new graduates, who had just completed their studies at the University of Pretoria’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute. The vet school is working closely with government through the DALRRD to place the new graduates in state vet offices in all nine provinces on a twelve-month contract for practical work.
All 31 doctors have already hit the ground running, after their official welcome and induction earlier last week. Seventeen of them have been placed in vet offices in Bohlabela and Ehlanzeni District, while 14 are at vet offices in all municipalities under the Gert Sibande and Nkangala districts respectively.
For more information:
Visit our website
Like us on Facebook
