NHI Bill Sparks Legal Action From Solidarity As Concerns About Corruption and Maladministration Heighten

• The National Assembly's passing of the National Health Insurance Bill has caused an uproar in South Africa
• Trade Union Solidarity has decided to take legal action against the government over the bill
• Several opposition parties in South Africa have also spoken out against the bill amid concerns about corruption and maladministration

JOHANNESBURG - Civil society and opposition parties are rallying against the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill after the ANC used its majority to approve it in the National Assembly.

Solidary to take the government to court over the NHI

Trade union Solidarity has vowed to take the government to task over its approval of the NHI Bill by instituting legal action.

Chief among Solidarity's concerns is that the plan is financially unstable and impossible to implement effectively, TimesLIVE reported.

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Solidarity CEO Dr Dirk Hermann said:

"The government’s plans to capture healthcare are unaffordable and unimplementable. It will lead to a mass exodus of health practitioners from the country.”

Meanwhile, multiple political parties are in agreement for once and have criticised the National Assembly for passing the controversial bill.

SA's opposition parties speak out against the National Assembly passing the NHI Bill

The Economic Freedom Fighter, Democratic Alliance, African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) are some of the parties that have been vocal about their outrage.

The ACDP said that the bill would collapse the health sector instead of transform it because the wrong agent, the ANC, is in charge, News24 reported.

The ACDP said:

"It is our assessment that the biggest hurdle to transformation is in capacity and a serious leadership deficit over the last decade that eroded trust in the government to deliver the most basic of services, never mind the total overhaul of the health sector."

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South Africans are worried corrupt government will bungle the NHI

Below are some comments:

@nickhedley questioned:

"The NHI under the world’s most incapable and corrupt government. What could possibly go wrong?"

@Nkunzi_Emnyama said:

"Everything could go wrong! Name it, it will happen!"

@SACricketLover1 added:

"I have zero confidence in the ability of this government, or any opposition parties, to effect it (either from a competence (ANC, EFF) or ideological (DA) standpoint). So don’t do it."

@sumi_mahomed exclaimed:

"Everything! They managed to ruin the sea… which still is unbelievable."

@chris_valstar criticised:

"The ANC is just corrupt."

DA celebrates cadre deployment victory against the ANC, says list should be released soon

Earlier, Briefly News reported that the Democratic Alliance is celebrating victory as the Gauteng High Court dismissed the ANC's latest bid to seal its cadre deployment list.

News24 reveals that the DA had succeeded in a February court attempt to make the ruling part release the complete records of the cadre deployment committee since 1 January 2013, when President Cyril Ramaphosa became its chairperson.

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Leading the DA's campaign against the ANC cadre deployment policy is MP Leon Schreiber ,who said:

"The fact that the ANC fought tooth and nail to hide these records from the public suggests that the documents will, for the very first time, expose Ramaphosa's personal complicity in state capture and corruption as cadre deployment chairman."

Source: Briefly News