DA vows to challenge NHI ‘all the way to ConCourt’
The DA has vowed to challenge the National Health Insurance (NHI) “all the way to the Constitutional Court”.
The party's leader, John Steenhuisen, announced the DA’s move to challenge the NHI in court on Tuesday morning, a day before President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to sign the NHI Bill into law at the Union Buildings.
The controversial bill seeks to achieve universal healthcare for all South Africans.
Read: Ramaphosa to sign contentious NHI bill into law
Steenhuisen described the planned introduction of NHI as “more corrupt in intent, and more deadly in impact, than BEE, load shedding, cadre deployment, land expropriation and nationalisation put together”.
"Our legal team was briefed months ago already, and we will file our legal challenge against this devastating legislation without delay.
"We have built up reams of correspondence, including with Ramaphosa himself, that we will enter into the evidence to show that the process which led to the adoption of this bill by Parliament disregarded public input and the bill itself is unconstitutional.
"It would be the equivalent to increasing VAT from 14% to 21.5%, increasing personal tax by 31%, imposing an additional payroll tax of R1500/pm of every working person.”
Steenhuisen believes the signing of the bill so close to the 29 May elections is evidence of the politics at play.
"Out of desperation, it cast around for any populist lever it could pull in the hopes of magically boosting its terminal fortunes.
"Unfortunately for the people of South Africa, Ramaphosa chose the NHI as the ANC’s last stand before it finally loses power in less than three weeks.”
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