The Themba hospital in KaBokweni was only treating emergency cases after 81 doctors did not arrive for work on Thursday, the Mpumalanga health department said.

Spokesman Mpho Gabashane said the hospital was prioritising in-patients and emergency cases. He called on patients who were not emergency cases to go to their nearest clinics instead.

Foreign doctors were working and the SA Military Health Services had deployed two doctors and two pharmacists to the hospital.

Of the 32 hospitals in Mpumalanga, only Themba was experiencing problems, Gabashane said.