R28 Million on NHI Advertising

Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands that Health Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi immediately halt the taxpayer-funded propaganda campaign for the National Health Insurance (NHI). This campaign is an unnecessary and wasteful use of public funds, especially at a time when South Africa’s public healthcare system is in dire need of qualified doctors, nurses, and medical personnel.

According to a reply to a DA Parliamentary question between April 1 and now, an astronomical R28.46 million has been spent on advertising the NHI, even though the NHI Act was only signed into law in May 2024. This spending, amounting to nearly R3 million per month, serves no other purpose than to further the Minister’s vanity project, rather than addressing the real, urgent healthcare crises facing our country.

Meanwhile, the Minister claims there are no funds to fill the 2 000 vacant medical positions in public hospitals, contributing to an unacceptable decline in healthcare standards for South Africans. This is nothing short of a betrayal of the people who depend on public healthcare for their very lives.

While the Minister pushes the flawed NHI scheme, South Africa faces a staggering shortage of healthcare workers. Another reply to a DA Parliamentary question reveals that the country’s doctor-to-patient ratio stands at 1:2,230, and the nurse-to-patient ratio is 1:762. Last year, 2 000 critical medical posts were left vacant, and yet, thousands of qualified doctors and healthcare professionals remain unemployed or underemployed.

The DA has already reported that many newly qualified doctors are left with no option but to seek employment abroad or join the private healthcare sector, further straining the already fragile system.

The Ministry of Health’s persistent defence of the NHI is unconscionable in the face of these glaring deficiencies. It is unconceivable that this government, which cannot provide basic healthcare services to its people, chooses to splurge millions on advertisements that promote an unrealistic, unimplementable healthcare scheme. The billboards that decorate our highways, social media and other advertising, celebrating the NHI are a slap in the face to every South African taxpayer who is already shouldering the burden of a failing healthcare system.

We call on the Minister to stop wasting millions of rand on NHI advertising and redirect those funds into addressing the severe staffing shortages in our public hospitals. The DA will not stand by while taxpayers’ money is thrown away on a far-fetched plan that only benefits political agendas and not the South African people.

The madness must end. We demand action, not empty promises.

Regards

Michele Clarke MP
DA Spokesperson on Health