Undervalued but unshaken: Fundi steps up to celebrate South Africa’s nurses amid global aid cuts
As the world marks Nurses Day this month, this annual anniversary has shone a sharp spotlight on the realities facing this group of South African heroes and heroines. With many battling burnout, bracing for further staff shortages and trying to find ways to absorb the impact of global funding cuts, Fundi is inviting the country to get behind our nurses and celebrate their daily untold contribution to our local communities.
Recent announcements by the United States to slash foreign aid to global health programmes (including PEPFAR, which funds major HIV initiatives in South Africa) sent shockwaves through our local healthcare sector.
“For nurses already stretched to breaking point, this was yet another blow,” notes Mary Maponya, Fundi Executive Head: Lending. “This isn’t just about money disappearing from a spreadsheet. It’s about support being taken from clinics, treatment delays growing longer and nurses being asked to pick up even more of the slack. We need to acknowledge that nurses are the pulse of public healthcare in South Africa – and that pulse is under pressure.”
Maponya says this is why it was so important for Fundi to find ways to add its voice of thanks and appreciation for nurses this month – including sponsoring and attending Denosa events in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. “Department of Health employees make up 16% of our total loan book, with a high proportion of these being nurses,” she explains. “They are a growing sector; continuously investing in their own self-development as a means of deepening their vocations and contribution.”
Fundi’s presence at these events made it possible to engage meaningfully with nurses on the ground; building relationships and understanding how best to continue to provide support around career advancement in particular.
