Health Minister finally concurs with DA that there is no money for the NHI
19 January 2023
Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Michele Clarke MP
The DA welcomes the Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla’s admission in answer to a parliamentary question that South Africa would not have the estimated R200 billion in the short or medium term to address the health sector’s infrastructure challenges in order to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill.
It seems the DA’s insistence on a financial feasibility study – which will surely underscore the NHI’s unaffordability – and our repeated requests that the Minister of Finance, Enoch Gondwana, appear before the parliamentary portfolio committee on health has finally cleared the fog a little.
In fact, the Finance Minister last year practically confirmed that the NHI is a pipe dream when he said in answer to a DA parliamentary question that the cost model will not automatically translate into budget allocations. The DA’s repeated requests that the Department of Health present a detailed cost model and financial impact study have been willfully ignored.