The Congress of the People (COPE) says it welcomes the passing of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill by the National Assembly.
The Bill seeks to give all South Africans access to quality health care as provided for in the Constitution.
The NHI fund will cover South Africans of all races, rich or poor, and legal long-term residents.
The Bill also makes provision for one pool of health care funding for private and public health care providers.
The African National Congress (ANC), the African Independent Congress (AIC), the National Freedom Party (NFP), the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and the Good Party all voted in favour of the NHI Bill with 205 votes, while the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), African Transformation Movement (ATM), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and Freedom Front Plus (FF-Plus) all voted against the Bill with 125 votes.
COPE Spokesperson Dennis Bloem says, “We think it’s a step in the right direction. We will welcome any effort to bring a solution to the crisis that the NHI is facing. Health care is a constitutional right of all citizens, rich or poor. Our health care was messed up over the past 29 years.”
“Many hospitals and clinics are dysfunctional. Shortage of critical personnel, and a shortage of medicine at some of the hospitals and clinics. Poor people are struggling to get proper healthcare, but we are very much concerned about corruption in the Health Department. We will not allow anyone to derail the National Health Insurance Bill. We will expose any corrupt activities in the health department,” Bloem adds.
VIDEO: The National Assembly passes the NHI bill:
