Motsoaledi: NHI won't make public hospitals redundant

Motsoaledi says public hospitals will continue to play an essential role in the South African healthcare system.

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the National Health Insurance Bill into law ahead of the elections amid grumblings from opposition parties and the private sector. 

While the need for universal health coverage is widely accepted, many feel the NHI, in its present form, is unimplementable. 

Several organisations claim that NHI will collapse the country’s healthcare sector.

“What do we do with all these huge hospitals in Gauteng, for instance, which is the biggest healthcare system on the whole continent,” Motsoaledi asked at a media briefing on the sidelines of the ANC’s national executive committee lekgotla on Tuesday afternoon.

“Do we just throw them away and say everyone must go private and NHI will pay? That’s not what we are going to do, so it is misleading people and is unacceptable”.

Motsoaledi says there is no possibility of economic growth if the population is sick.

“An unhealthy workforce cannot drive the economy. Stunted people will produce stunted economies.”

During his department’s budget vote in Parliament in July, Motsoledi said that his door remains open to those who are unhappy with the manner in which the NHI is being implemented. 

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