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The onslaught against the National Health Insurance Act (NHI) has obtained a united front at Solidarity’s NHI Crisis Summit held in Centurion today.

Political parties, think tanks and pressure groups that convened at the summit indicated their intention to support each other’s actions against the NHI Act – be it through litigation, political processes, or civil pressure.

Parties belonging to the Multi-Party Charter intend, among other things, to bring a section 80 application before the Constitutional Court to declare the NHI Act unconstitutional as soon as possible . The support of a third of the Members of Parliament is required for such an application to succeed. 

Dr Dirk Hermann, Solidarity’s chief executive, told representatives of the VF+, ACDP and ActionSA  who attended the summit that his organisation would support the political parties’ application in every way possible.

Representatives from among others AfriForum, Sakeliga, the Free Market Foundation and the Institute for Race Relations (IRR) attended the summit as well, also being in favour of obtaining the support of 33% of Members of Parliament for such an application to have the Act declared unconstitutional within 30 days of its signing.

Meanwhile, Solidarity has initiated its own major NHI court action by serving court papers on the government on Friday 24 May, and it encourages other parties and groupings to join the legal battle or to wage their own battles against the NHI.

"What we are now seeing here is an increasingly aligned attack on the NHI through various forms of litigation as well as political and civil pressure being brought to bear at the same time. This kind of collective pressure is bigger than party politics and it embodies great power.

“Our court papers have already been served. However, everyone who has attended today’s crisis summit is united in their fight against the NHI. Solidarity also calls on voters to support parties in the election that show their opposition to the NHI,” Hermann said.

Solidarity believes the NHI is unconstitutional as well as being unworkable and unaffordable.

“The NHI is completely irrational. It deprives healthcare workers as well as healthcare users of choice.

“The contradiction contained in the notion of an NHI is that it would lead to less access to quality healthcare in South Africa, and not to greater access as the government professes,” Hermann said.

Issued by Solidarity