NHI: Public hearings in Mpumalanga a farce
29 October 2019
The civil rights organisation AfriForum expressed its discontent with the process of the public hearings on the National Health Insurance Bill (NHI) and will also obtain legal advice regarding the procedural unfairness of the process thus far. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health held these hearings from 25 to 28 October 2019 in Mpumalanga, however, various procedural problems occurred.
The hearings are supposed to be objective to garner the community’s true sentiment regarding NHI. AfriForum representatives who attended the hearings in Mpumalanga, however noted various irregularities. These include:
Pamphlets (printed in Zulu only) reflecting the ANC’s perspective of the NHI were laid out on the chairs in the venues.
The venue for the hearing in Secunda was moved to Ermelo on the same day, without this change being communicated in any way (AfriForum fortunately found out about the change in venue).