The South African Communist Party (SACP), the ANC’s key alliance partner, believes it will be a big struggle for the government to implement the National Health Insurance (NHI) anytime soon.
The party said the state lost the opportunity to introduce the universal health coverage at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the heart of the government’s glaring failures, according to SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila, was what he termed the “tiptoeing, dilly-dallying and the non-committal approach”.
“We dilly-dallied on this matter even during the Covid-19 pandemic. We had the opportunity to radically introduce NHI in this country. Nobody would have said no. Worldwide big capital looked to governments for solutions, and we should have seized the opportunity,” Mapaila told Sunday World.
He pointed out that the government should have leveraged the opportunity and improved the ailing health system and health infrastructure in townships and rural areas.
“We would have wrapped up health infrastructural development in the rural areas and in the townships. There would have never been any complaint. That is why big capital does not even respect us and part of the reasons they reneged on social compact. When they were supposed to take responsibility and put resources, they showed the government the middle finger because they realised that this government has no teeth. It allowed them to get away scot-free,” Mapaila said.
He also lamented that no government anywhere in the world had allowed big business a free pass, but they are forced and directed to contribute meaningfully in the developmental agenda of the state.
The NHI is underpinned by a health financing system designed to mobilise funds and provide access to quality health for all citizens, regardless of their economic status. Key to the system is ensuring that the use of health services does not become a financial burden, especially for poor households. It was first introduced in the public discourse back in 2012, but there has been little movement on its implementation.
According to the plan, NHI will be financed through the establishment and the creation of a single fund that will buy services on behalf of the entire population and citizens would access private healthcare without having to foot exorbitant health costs.
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