For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: DA defends decision to take on NHI in ConCourt; Education dept defends textbook catalogue process; And, Eskom reports progress in dialogue with some municipalities struggling to settle debt

DA defends decision to take on NHI in ConCourt

Democratic Alliance leader Geordin Hill-Lewis argued that South Africa cannot build a sustainable healthcare system by centralising "enormous power, money, and decision-making" in a State that has repeatedly failed its current mandates.

Hill-Lewis’ remarks come as the Western Cape government takes its fight against the National Health Insurance  to the Constitutional Court.

The provincial government is seeking to defend the principle that superior healthcare is a product of good governance rather than centralised control, arguing that major reforms like the NHI cannot be pushed through Parliament as a "box-ticking exercise”.

Hill-Lewis highlighted that State capture had shown, through failing hospitals, broken procurement systems and collapsing public services, that concentration of power without competence does not produce better health outcomes.

He defended the good government argument against the NHI, stating that government needed to prove that it could manage the public health system it already controlled, before spending on a new healthcare fund.

Education dept defends textbook catalogue process

The Department of Basic Education dismissed accusations of impropriety in its textbook catalogue development process, asserting that it uses a  “rigorously controlled, anonymised” screening process to ensure “objectivity, fairness, and accountability”.

The department said it noted questions about the integrity and transparency of the processes underpinning its textbook catalogue.

Following a newsreport exposé which brought to light allegations of irregular textbook procurement, the DBE has been pulled into another scandal in which a publisher has allegedly inflated prices of teaching aids.

The DBE said it uses blind screening methodology to safeguard the integrity of decision-making and foster competitive pricing for cost-effective and equitable procurement of learning and teaching support materials.

The department said its catalogue development process undergoes a multi-stage quality assurance system.

It assured that all submitted materials are first subjected to a rigorous screening process in which non-curricular identifiers, including publisher and author details, are removed to ensure impartial evaluation based solely on curriculum alignment and pedagogical merit.

And, Eskom reports progress in dialogue with some municipalities struggling to settle debt

State-owned power utility Eskom says notable progress has been achieved as a result of the ongoing dialogue since March with 14 municipalities that have not settled their accounts for bulk electricity supply for at least the past 18 months.

The municipalities were selected because they had also not met the conditions of the National Treasury municipal debt relief programme, or they posed a significant financial risk to Eskom.

The utility had issued notices in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act  to the 14 municipalities across the country in March.

Nine of these municipalities have received council resolutions to sign Distribution Agency Agreements, and engagements are ongoing on the implementation of these agreements.

The implementation of the agreements will result in Eskom partnering with municipalities, for a defined period, to provide expertise and skills transfer in areas such as billing, maintenance of electricity infrastructure and debt collection strategies.

Eskom also recently concluded a payment arrangement with the City of Ekurhuleni, which resulted in the withdrawal of Eskom’s intention to interrupt supply, it says.

Further, Eskom also agreed to a prepayment arrangement with the Inxuba Yethemba local municipality, which can only pay a certain amount to buy electricity, resulting in Eskom supplying electricity only for the amount that had been paid by the municipality.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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