{"id":66176,"date":"2024-05-17T11:05:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T11:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown"},"modified":"2024-05-17T11:57:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T11:57:37","slug":"government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown","title":{"rendered":"Government ready for NHI legal showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Various business and medical groups, trade unions, civil rights organisations and political parties have reacted to the signing of the controversial National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill with warnings of legal action if the decision is not reversed.<\/p>\n

However, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said that he expected opposition from groups with \u201cvested interests\u201d and government is ready to meet them in court.<\/p>\n

Opposition<\/p>\n

Some of the organisations which have threatened litigation against the NHI include Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), the Democratic Alliance (DA), trade union Solidarity, civil rights group Afriforum, and business interest group Sakeliga.<\/p>\n

Opponents argue that the NHI would damage the country\u2019s healthcare system, hurt taxpayers, undermine investment confidence, and result in a mass exodus of doctors.<\/p>\n

Shortly after President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the NHI in a public ceremony at the union buildings on 15 May, Solidarity was the first to show its hand.\u201cSolidarity\u2019s legal battle against the destructive National Health Insurance Bill (NHI) began within the first hour after Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa signed the bill [and] as a first step, the government has been formally cautioned not to implement the NHI,\u201d said the group in a statement.<\/p>\n

Both the DA and BUSA have also said that they are exploring legal avenues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NHI will not address the underlying issues in our healthcare system; it is financially unfeasible, an election gimmick, and will burden South Africans with increased taxes,\u201d said DA MP Siviwe Gwarube.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe potential for corruption is staggering, and the flawed parliamentary process further erodes public trust [ and] the DA will pursue all legal avenues to challenge the NHI and ensure that the rights of all South Africans are upheld,\u201d Gwarube added.<\/p>\n

BUSA CEO Cas Coovadia said that \u201cour subsequent actions will be guided by our belief that it is essential that we get the NHI right through all means still at our disposal, including appropriate legal interventions,\u201d as the group believes that \u201cthe legislation, in its current form, is unimplementable and damaging to the country\u2019s healthcare sector, to the economy more broadly and to investor confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Business interest group Sakeliga published a statement following the bill\u2019s signing, urging businesses and the public \u201cto resist this attempted nationalisation of healthcare services and medical practitioners wherever possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage support for organisations committed to challenging the NHI Act in various ways, including through litigation,\u201d added CEO Piet le Roux.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bring it on\u2019 \u2013 Phaahla<\/p>\n

In response to questions about the impending legal battles that the NHI faces, Phaahla said that he expected opposition due to \u201cvested interests\u201d and because the bill would force people out of \u201ctheir comfort zones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are used to their comfort zones or doing things a certain way, but there are also vested interests,\u201d said Phaahla.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the organisations, if you trace back historically, you will find that they benefited, not only in terms of the lack of radical transformation in the sector since democracy, but they benefited since before the [new] dispensation and have the comfort of benefiting even more in democratic South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, anything that threatens that comfort is going to be a challenge to some of these organisations. We accept that. We are in a democratic country, the courts are part and parcel of a democratic country. We are talking about serious vested interests. We must be ready to go and present our case,\u201d added the health minister.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Various business and medical groups, trade unions, civil rights organisations and political parties have reacted to the signing of the controversial National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill with warnings of legal action if the decision is not reversed. However, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said that he expected opposition from groups with \u201cvested interests\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":66175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-66176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nGovernment ready for NHI legal showdown - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Various business and medical groups, trade unions, civil rights organisations and political parties have reacted to the ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government ready for NHI legal showdown\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Various business and medical groups, trade unions, civil rights organisations and political parties have reacted to the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-17T11:05:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-17T11:57:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/05\/sm_1715934395.54614.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Government ready for NHI legal showdown\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-17T11:05:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-17T11:57:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown\"},\"wordCount\":581,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/05\/sm_1715934395.54614.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/government-ready-for-nhi-legal-showdown\",\"name\":\"Government ready for NHI legal showdown - 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