DESPITE the governing ANC party forging ahead with its plans to sign the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law, numerous civil society groups continue to describe its pitch as nothing more than a ‘distorted picture’.
In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that he would sign the proposed legislation into law soon. However, a number of organisations have continued to vehemently oppose the bill’s inception, including civil rights organisation AfriForum.
AfriForum’s campaign officer, Louis Boshoff, said healthcare centres such as the Unjani Clinic in Diepsloot were proof that the ANC government was trying to sell a ‘false narrative’ about the NHI Bill.
Boshoff said the organisation was opposed to the bill being signed into law. He said proponents of the NHI had painted a distorted picture of private healthcare in the country in order to present NHI as the only solution.
As a result of this, the image created by the narrative was that the private sector was managed only by greedy businessmen and doctors, and used exclusively by rich patients with medical aids, he said.
In order to correct this ‘injustice’, according to Boshoff, it is then demanded that private medical aids may no longer ensure basic health services at all.
Boshoff explained, however, that after a recent visit to the Unjani Clinic in Diepsloot they were able to see that private healthcare for poor communities was possible.
“This bill is a typical wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is presented as free healthcare for all, but in truth it is nothing more than the deprivation of freedom and economic sustainability of the health industry.
“We have experienced first-hand at the Unjani Clinic how benevolent healthcare workers provide an indispensable service to a needy community and simply expect a fair private compensation.
“NHI will cause great damage to these services and all South Africans will be worse off,” Boshoff said.
Trade union Solidarity also raised concerns about the NHI and in particular the promises made by Ramaphosa, claiming that the bill would put an end to the “apartheid that prevails in the health care sector”.
If anything, said Theuns du Buisson, an economic researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI), statements made by the president showed a deliberate disregard of certain key facts about the system.
Du Buisson said Solidarity remained sceptical about the latest promises made by Ramaphosa regarding the NHI because the reality of the healthcare system in South Africa was vastly different from the picture painted.
According to the researcher, it was important to acknowledge the origins of the existing infrastructure of large hospitals in South Africa, which had mainly been built before the ANC came to power.
“Since the ANC came to power, almost no attention has been paid to the maintenance of state hospitals. Only private hospitals have been built by the private sector. The success of private hospitals proves that the private sector can function efficiently and independently.
“Furthermore, it is a clear indication that the NHI cannot work and that functioning health services are dependent on private management.
“The ANC government is the cause of the system functioning the way it does. This government has let the public health sector fall into disrepair by introducing policies that increase unemployment, and preventing medical aid schemes from offering affordable options.
“To expect that they will be able to roll out the NHI in a good way is insane,” he said.
The Star