Solidarity now plans a countrywide campaign to obtain input which will point out the negative consequences of this legislature for all citizens.
Morné Malan, a researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute says it is “astonishing to watch how the ANC always succeeds in adopting the weakest possible policy, which historically failed in countries like Venezuela and Cuba, while policy in the foremost economies of the world are regarded as egregious by the ruling party”.
According to Malan, the trade union condemns the government’s proposal to impose the NHI on all South Africans. “The proposal, if not explicitly, is definitely a de facto nationalisation of health care in South Africa and Solidarity strongly doubts the government’s motivation…
“This is evidently not an effort to improve the quality of health care in South Africa, but rather creating equality by handicapping the excellent private health sector instead of rectifying the shortcomings of the public health sector. The problem is quite clearly not that the state fails to provide good service, but rather that the private health sector succeeds in doing so.”
Malan argues that an utterance by President Ramaphosa that the NHI will be implemented whether people like it or not, is quite alarming and shows him to be a leader who weighs ideological considerations more heavily than the well-being or wishes of his citizens.
“Solidarity herewith announces that the trade union will establish a professional association for health care practitioners to protect them from the actions of the government, as well as be the watchdog for health care professions in South Africa.”
