DA lodges Public Service Commission complaint against NHI

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the NHI Bill into law last week, paving the way for South Africa to implement universal healthcare.

However, the DA has vowed to take legal action against the implementation, saying the government does not have the capacity to facilitate NHI in its current form. 

DA's Leon Schreiber alleges that the party was contacted by panicked public servants who are members of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS).

"Using NHI to expropriate medical aid contributions without compensation and to extort even higher taxes from all South Africans, including from the millions of public servants who are members of GEMS, will only serve to further fuel the ANC corruption and mismanagement that is the real cause limiting access to quality public healthcare for millions of poor citizens.

"The DA’s complaint to the PSC is lodged in terms of the Commission’s mandate, as outlined in section 196 (4)(a-c) of the Constitution, to investigate, monitor and evaluate the organisation and administration, and the personnel practices, of the public service, to propose measures to ensure effective and efficient performance within the public service, as well as to promote the values and principles set out in section 195, throughout the public service.

Schreiber said the NHI violates the constitutional principles governing public administration.

"It results in the inefficient, uneconomic and ineffective use of resources. It undermines good human resource management and career development practices.

 "As a result, the NHI poses an existential threat to the health and wellbeing of public servants, the capacity of the public service to deliver on its mandate, as well as to labour relations within the sector.”

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