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The Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s Standing Committee on Health today voted to finalise its submission to the National Council of Provinces, in which the Western Cape firmly rejects the controversial National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill. This brings to an end a lengthy and extraordinarily well-attended public participation process, which saw Western Cape residents express pressing concerns on the financial and social implications of the Bill’s passage into law.

Proposed by the ANC at the national level, the NHI Bill would allow the state to take control over virtually all healthcare in South Africa. Under NHI, private healthcare would be all but outlawed, and medical procedures would be funded by a massive, central, tax-funded pool of money. National Treasury has thus far not disclosed how this system of state-funded healthcare will be funded with any degree of viability.

While the goal of universal health coverage is a noble one, this particular Bill will have dire economic consequences for the Western Cape and South Africa. With a mounting debt crisis, a stagnant economy, and an energy crisis that makes real the threat of total economic collapse, South Africa already cannot meet its financial obligations. The passage of NHI would not only catastrophically exacerbate this, but would also bring millions of patients into already-overstretched public healthcare system, while simultaneously demanding hundreds of billions of Rand more from an overstretched and shrinking tax base.

These concerns were echoed by hundreds of residents who made written and oral submissions on the Bill. In addition to economic reasons, many residents felt that NHI would worsen the flight of medical professionals from South Africa to wealthier countries. Others drew attention to the sweeping powers over health which would be granted to the national minister by the Bill, the massive potential for corruption engendered by the NHI system, as well as the eradication of the private medical sector and patient choice over where to receive treatment. So many submissions were recorded that the committee was forced to embark on additional public hearings to ensure that every Western Cape resident was heard.

As the Western Cape submits its response to the NCOP, the message is clear: to pass this Bill would lead to total collapse of both the healthcare sector, and the greater economy of South Africa. It must be rejected.

DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Health, Gerrit Pretorius, said: “The people of the Western Cape have spoken, and they must be heard. NHI has the very real potential of being the final nail in our country’s coffin, and there is little choice but to reject it. We urge the NCOP to take the Western Cape’s mandate seriously, and to give it the full consideration which it is due by law and precedent.”

Issued by Gerrit Pretorius, MPP - DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Health and Wellness