On Tuesday, Solidarity warned the Deputy Director General of the Department of Health, Dr Nicholas Crisp, to provide clarity on his remarks that the first phase of National Health Insurance (NHI) would be implemented by the end of 2022.
“It is alarming that although a public participation process is currently in progress, government officials believe their plans would be implemented without resistance. Moreover, I struggle to see how Dr Crisp can justify his words in the light of a constitutional mandate that protects our public participation processes. In addition, it should also be pointed out that the Department merely refuses to provide us with the information requested in previous correspondence about what the department’s own Deputy Director General had uttered in a public forum,” Connie Mulder, Head of the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI), said. The trade union indicated that an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) had been submitted to obtain this information. According to Solidarity, it has been forced to take these steps and to consider further legal action should the Department not comply with this PAIA application. Dr Crisp indicated in correspondence with Solidarity that his department could not make announcements about implementation of the NHI before completion of the current parliamentary processes, but perturbingly then went on to make public statements about implementation. “What the government is currently doing is undermining the public participation process and it is not adhering to its mandate of transparency. This proves once again that the government does not intend to comply with the wishes of its citizens or to act in their best interests,” Mulder stated.
- Read Solidarity’s press statement in regard to this matter at Solidarity News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page