Many residents of Mangaung in the Free State came out in support of the NHI Bill during the public hearings this week but asked that existing problems in the healthcare sector be fixed.
The latest Auditor-General’s (AG) report makes for grim reading regarding a number of provincial departments of health. Yet, there seems little hope that provincial legislatures will hold these departments to account and even less that the public will be kept informed of the activities of these legislatures.
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health wrapped up the last public hearings on the NHI Bill for this year on Monday in King William’s Town. Here is the hearings in pictures.
If all goes according to plan the NHI Bill may just be on the President’s desk to be signed into law by July or August next year, according to portfolio committee chair Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo.
ANC veteran Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo is chairperson of the National Assembly’s Portfolio Committee on Health and will play a pivotal role in deliberations over the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill. The question is – will it be about serving the people or toeing the party-line?
Siviwe Gwarube is not only one of the Democratic Alliance’s upcoming stars, she is also one of the key people on parliament’s health committee who will soon consider the NHI Bill. Biénne Huisman went to meet her.
Information recently presented in parliament sheds light on how many clinic health committees there are in each province and how many members these committees have.
