The National Health Insurance may well be South Africa’s new “land grabs”: a red herring the government dangles before large parts of the population to distract them from the fact they’re not getting better service delivery in all other areas.
To recap, the NHI will create universal healthcare for all. Right now, we have a shoddy public healthcare system for most of the population and world-class private care for the few million who can afford private medical aid.
Like land expropriation without compensation, the NHI addresses a real need: unequal access to resources rooted in apartheid’s legacy. Like the expropriation legislation, it is the way the state wants to address this legitimate issue that is the real concern. And, like so many sensational pre-election political plays before it, there’s little to no chance of it being implemented in its current form.
With national elections a few weeks away and the ANC polling at a dismal 40%, President Cyril Ramaphosa has again tried to tempt voters with promises of signing the bill, which has been waiting for his signature since being passed by both houses of parliament at the end of last year.
But even if signed, the bill will likely get bogged down in court for years, as the private healthcare industry has vowed to fight it. Plus, there is the pesky matter of funding the R200 billion-plus bill from an already overstretched tax base. It’s lightyears away from happening, and the ANC probably won’t even be in power to see it through. Still, all this talk affects public sentiment, potentially scaring our medical specialists into emigrating and deterring potential medical students.
Making empty promises to a hungry poor and working class while ALSO panicking the already strained middle class is an ANC speciality… one we can’t wait to see the back of.
Verashni is passionate about empowering citizens to hold those in power to account. She was previously editor-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian and HuffPost South Africa, and won the CNN African Journalism Award, among others.
