Verified
The Gauteng Department of Health runs public health care in South Africa’s most populous province, managing a large network of provincial hospitals, clinics and health programmes that serve millions of residents. The department needs a steady supply of doctors, nurses and allied health workers to keep those facilities running.
- Registered name
- Gauteng Department of Health
- Type
- Provincial government department (Gauteng)
- Fields funded
- Medicine through the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro programme; nursing and allied health
- Website
- gauteng.gov.za
- Phone
- 011 355 3000
What this page is based on
BursariesAfrica could not read the Gauteng Department of Health’s bursary pages when researching this profile on 15 September 2026. The information here comes from a provider record checked in August 2026 and from BursariesAfrica’s earlier guide to the department’s medical bursary. Applicants should confirm every detail with the department.
Studying medicine in Cuba
The Gauteng Department of Health’s best-known bursary route sends students to study medicine in Cuba through the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Collaboration programme. The programme selects students from disadvantaged communities in Gauteng and aims to train doctors who return to serve in the province’s public health system.
Studying medicine in Cuba means learning Spanish, living far from home for several years and completing final training in South Africa before qualifying. Applicants should understand those demands before applying, because the programme asks for a long commitment.
Other health bursaries
The department also funds students pursuing medicine, nursing and allied health qualifications at South African institutions, according to the provider record, to address staffing needs in provincial facilities. Health bursaries from provincial departments usually require graduates to work in public health facilities for a period linked to their funding.
How to research the department’s bursaries
Contact the Gauteng Department of Health’s head office and ask whether the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro programme and the department’s local health bursaries will recruit for 2027, what the selection process involves and how long the service obligation lasts. Ask as well whether applicants must live in a particular Gauteng district.
Speak to doctors or nurses who trained through provincial bursaries, if possible, about working in public hospitals after qualifying. Their experience helps applicants decide whether the commitment suits them.
Gauteng’s academic hospitals also train many health professionals, so students who study locally may complete clinical training in the same provincial facilities they later work in.
Health science students can compare Gauteng’s bursaries with other funders on our Medical Bursaries page.
