Cape Town — President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to sign the controversial National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law on Wednesday afternoon.
Ramaphosa said during his State of the Nation Address that he was simply looking for a pen to sign the NHI Bill into law. The Presidency confirmed in a statement that the president will publicly sign the bill into law into law on Wednesday afternoon at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
The objective of the NHI Bill is set to provide universal access to quality health care for all South Africans of all races, rich or poor, and legal long-term residents, IOL reported.
The new bill means South Africans will no longer be required to contribute directly to a medical health scheme, and the NHI will now make healthcare more affordable for all.
Those without medical aid will not be charged when visiting healthcare facilities because the NHI fund would cover the costs in the same way that medical schemes do for their members.
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA TO PUBLICLY SIGN NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE BILL INTO LAW
President @CyrilRamaphosa will on Wednesday, 15 May 2024, publicly sign into law the National Health Insurance Bill which directs the transformation of the South Africa’s health care system to achieve…
— The Presidency 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) May 13, 2024
The Health Department said the new Bill will not replace any existing Medical Aid schemes and those who have medical-aid will be free to keep using them.
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) voted in favour of the bill last year. The bill was tabled in 2019. However, this was met with criticism from opposition parties and other groups who said the bill was unconstitutional and would destroy the health sector.
According to EWN, many of the opposition parties expressed their disdain at the new bill. The Democratic Alliance (DA) gave a list of 50 reasons why the bill would fail, also citing medical staff shortages in hospitals. DA health spokesperson Michele Clarke says the party is ready to proceed with court action.
“The Minister [of Health Dr Joe Phaahla] has unvetted powers in this Bill where he acts as, you know, the judge and the jury when it comes to appointing boards.”
ActionSA urged the president not to sign the bill into law, claiming it would be the second phase of State capture, with spokesperson Tebogo Mathibane expressed disappointment that Ramaphosa did not consider any objections.
“The proposal is ill-conceived as it will open up healthcare for grand scale corruption as we have seen during the COVID-9 pandemic when billions were lost through PPE [ and related corruption.”
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
