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Nzimande warns of health war
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| August 03 2009 at 05:21AM |
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Submit your comment By Carien Du Plessis
"Prepare for a huge battle because we are going to mobilise the workers and the poor of the country to fight against you so we can have a national health insurance scheme." Continues Below ↓ Nzimande said the national health insurance scheme "aims to ensure every South African has access to health services without having to pay up front". Public and private health care facilities would be open to all who wanted to use them. "Everyone must have access to affordable and quality health care. How is it going to work? Those that are rich, they are going to pay more for this scheme. Those who are unemployed and with no income, will pay nothing, but everybody will get the same quality treatment." The ANC is powering ahead with plans to have the scheme up and running in five years, but has been criticised for keeping most of the details under wraps. In July, the party's national executive committee adopted a draft policy document on the scheme and Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is expected to release this soon. The ANC has also decided to embark on a campaign, to be driven by the party and its alliance partners, the SACP and Cosatu, to inform people about the scheme. A civil society summit is on the cards. Critics have argued that the scheme would be too costly to implement and would not work if problems in the public health service - largely stemming from poor management - are not sorted out first. Under the proposal, medical scheme members would pay 85 percent of the contributions, irrespective of the option they chose, to a global fund that would pay public and private sector providers. Non-medical aid members would pay 5 percent of their income to the fund. Nzimande accused "some opposition parties" of taking advantage of recent service delivery protests to score political points. He did not mention Cope by name, but the party - the official opposition in the Free State - has been mentioned as playing a role in service delivery protests in Jagersfontein in the province, where buildings were torched last month. "There are those who lost the April (general) election and they think what they lost they can try to reclaim by exploiting our people's grievances by fighting the ANC government. "We say to them we will defeat you again, just as we defeated you in the April election." Nzimande agreed with Cosatu deputy secretary-general Bheki Ntshalintshali, who said on Sunday that the recent public service strikes were not aimed at toppling President Jacob Zuma's regime and accused opposition parties of spreading such rumours. Nzimande also condemned those who "try to hijack our people's protests by engaging in violence, looting and xenophobic attacks".
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Showing page 1 of 2 comment pages, 18 total comments
15 Weeks ago craig wrote :
There is nothing wrong with a national health system, but if you are going to force people to pay for it, you'd have to supply a system far better than what we have now, which I doubt will be possible as we have neither the ability nor the expertise to build a half decent national health care system.
15 Weeks ago Don wrote :
If the government was even remotely bothered about the welfare of its citizens, it would get the state hospitals working again. Then there wouldn't be any need for a government medical aid, would there?
15 Weeks ago Ty wrote :
Blade, bring it on then. Communism is dead, it failed so many times, and even Cuba and North Korea is changing. Communism has tried to dictate to the Church and God has punihsed it by removing it. You will not win!
15 Weeks ago Dumbfounded wrote :
I am once again amazed by the logic of Mr. Nzimande and his colleagues. After messing up public health care for 15 years, they now want to take aim at private health care.
They will not admit that the reason for the dismal state of public health care is mismanagement and in some cases corruption.
Instead of first addressing these issues and building a public health sector that provides proper care, they just want more money. If we cannot trust them with what they already have why give them more?
The problem with the ANC is that rather than taking a stand to improve the standards of public health care they would rather drag down private health care to the same dismal level.
Excellence is something they cannot comprehend or implement plans to achieve.
I also think it is most pathetic for a minister to speak of war in a democracy. It is about time they stopped using their silly communist jargon and realised that if it is such a superior plan they will be able to sell it to everybody.
15 Weeks ago Anon wrote :
Government might be trying to assist those who are impoverished, but to taking up so much of money from those who are surviving is very unfair. We are already paying so much taxes and now we are expected to pay high medical aid costs - no no no they are losing it.
There are people out there that are well capable of working but having no intention of doing so and made a choice of depending on the government grants - why should i be contributing for such person or should we discontinue our medical aid contribution to qualify for 5% contribution?
15 Weeks ago idiot wrote :
Blade - take it all. Get the ANCYL president to be yuor deputy. The debate will be more interesting.
15 Weeks ago Steve wrote :
In a first world country where the majority of people are taxpayers and contributors this may work if managed properly, in our third world backwater where 20% of the population fund the other 80% as it is, where on earth is this money going to come from. If this is implemeted, I for one will be cancelling my meical aid not a damn am I going to fund some useless good for nothing
15 Weeks ago Malema wrote :
So now the people who want what's due to them, SERVICES DELIVERY are used by opposition parties?? We, the ANC has nothing to do with this, but just want to buy cars with millions and blame others for our incompetence!! Good move Blade "Ntloko" eNzima!!!
15 Weeks ago HealthySA wrote :
Does this not amount to equal distribution of poverty?
... Is there not a NHI antidote for communism?
15 Weeks ago Seen it all wrote :
It is just a new source of income to carry on supporting the gravy train. In tough times every one is looking for a new fresh income source. Those who are first to know the processes of this new national health insurance system, they are one step ahead of sceeming new ways of corrupion. There were the lottery, Land Bank, UIF... And how do the criminals survive? Commit corruption and just say the magic word "sorry". This national health insurance system will not be "for the people", but for income to sponsor the gravy train. It took just a couple of years to demolish the education system, health care system etc. To break systems does not provide the expertise to build up new systems.
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