In some respects, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi was the right person for the job when he was appointed as South Africa’s Minister of Health in 2009. But in 2024, the healthcare context in the country looks very different. Spotlight editor Marcus Low asks what we might expect from this new chapter with Motsoaledi in the top health job.
After the ANC received less than 41% of the votes in last week’s national elections, negotiations are now underway that will determine how and by who South Africa is governed. Ministerial posts, including the country’s top health job, might be on the negotiating table. Spotlight considers the candidates for the post of South Africa’s Minister of Health.
Several political parties have pledged to plug shortages of healthcare staff at government hospitals and clinics by training more health workers. They’re right to be concerned with understaffing, but are they putting the right solutions on the table? Jesse Copelyn investigates.
KwaZulu-Natal is a high-stakes province that seems set for substantial political shake-ups come 29 May. Whichever way the pie gets divvied up though, healthcare is a matter of life-and-death. Ufrieda Ho asked five political parties about their plans for health in the province. Only one responded.
Spotlight reached out to different political parties in the Eastern Cape to get their perspectives on how they plan to jack up healthcare in a province where thousands of people still have difficulty accessing healthcare. Only three parties responded. We zoom in on their views on crippled emergency medical services and ballooning medico-legal claims.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signed the NHI Bill into law. The question is whether this will bring South Africa closer towards Universal Health Coverage. Professor Susan Cleary argues that the NHI is a wide ranging reform with both positive and controversial aspects. The key will be to find a middle ground in order to continue on the journey to UHC.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the National Health Insurance Bill, which is the ANC-led government’s plan for universal health coverage, just 14 days before the country heads to the polls.
Luvuyo Mehlwana looks back at the performance of public healthcare services in the Eastern Cape over the last five years – a term characterised by leadership instability, infrastructure problems, financial short-falls, and of course the COVID-19 pandemic.
