The DA says it is waiting to hear from the National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise after sending a letter saying it is concerned that the National Health Insurance Bill will not pass constitutional muster.
The DA says it will ask Parliament to seek a comprehensive legal opinion on the matter.
The DA leader Mmusi Maimane says he has written to Modise to request her to urgently instruct the Parliamentary Legal Services to obtain a legal opinion on the Bill.
Maimane says the Bill appears to remove provincial competencies when it comes to health care.
The tragedy of this #NHIBill is that it will not achieve universal healthcare for South Africa.
Instead, it is bound to destroy the health system and create a multi-billion rand State-Owned Enterprise. https://t.co/VRHGliqcyR
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) August 13, 2019
We cannot allow Parliament to be a rubber-stamp station for problematic pieces of legislation.
We will be engaging with various civil society organisations and health providers to implore them to make inputs to this #NHIBill.
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) August 13, 2019
Should this #NHIbill be passed in its current form, all SAns will be the main causalities of this system.
There are deep inequalities in the system. 84% of the citizens are dependent on an ailing health system with only 16% of our people who can afford private medical care.
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) August 13, 2019
“The #NHIbill seeks to curtail the constitutionally granted shared power between national & provincial government, & we believe that the Bill & the system that it proposes is overly intrusive on the constitutionally enshrined rights of provincial legislatures.” – @MmusiMaimane pic.twitter.com/uPgrT5nhpj
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) August 13, 2019
[BREAKING] Leader @MmusiMaimane, has today written to the Speaker of the National Assembly, requesting that she instructs the Parliamentary Legal Services to obtain a legal opinion on the #NHIBill before it appears in the National Assembly. pic.twitter.com/aLhd2zR3nb
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) August 13, 2019