The Democratic Alliance (DA) says that the only objective of Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s NHI roadshow is to gain support from stakeholders.
“Any objection or suggestion will be nothing more than a talk shop, without any real consideration and action to implement a universal health care system that effectively works for the people of South Africa,” DA Member of Parliament and spokesperson on Health, Michele Clarke said on Wednesday.
Clarke further revealed that the DA has once again asked President Cyril Ramaphosa – who had signed the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law ahead of the 2024 general elections – and National Treasury to explain how government will fund the NHI.
This comes after Minister of Health and member of the ANC National Executive Committee addressed media on the sidelines of the party’s NEC Lekgotla held in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
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Motsoaledi told reporters that he will be embarking on a national roadshow to meet role-players and stakeholders that have concerns over the implementation of NHI.
The minister added that he would also be visiting communities and others who stood to benefit most from the NHI, to explain among other things, the impact of the court judgment last month in which some sections of the NHI were struck down for not being constitutional.
However, the DA spokesperson on Health insists that Minister Motsoaledi’s roadshow will not amend a single syllable of the NHI Act.
“The only way to amend this disastrous Act is through Parliamentary process or if one of the many cases before the Courts were to find the Act unconstitutional,” said Clarke.
Despite the DA pushback, Motsoaledi said that while more engagements around the NHI are in the pipeline, the Government still has full intention of implementing Section 57 of the NHI Act, which relates to the “transitional arrangements” for the timelines to implement the laws.
“We are going to implement Section 57 immediately to make sure that we get going with transitional mechanism,” the Minister told reporters.
