By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Trade union Solidarity has lost its high court bid to scrap the health department’s National Health Insurance (NHI) branch, which it argued should have been established only after the NHI bill became law.
Parliament passed the bill in December, but it has yet to be signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Solidarity’s Anton van der Bijl says, that the union wanted to stop the appointments as they were based on an act that does not exist at this point.
“It was an application to the High Court to halt the appointment of certain employees in terms of the NHI, which has not been finalised.
The argument was that you cannot appoint personnel if there is no NHI Act, which enacts your right to employ personnel.”
Van der Bijl said the union was disappointed by the ruling but remained determined to challenge the implementation of NHI.
“At the end of the day this is only the opening shots fired in the war against the NHI. We deem the NHI in totality as unlawful, illegal, irrational and unethical and we will continue with our fight against the NHI.”
He said Solidarity was finalising its court papers to challenge the NHI Act in totality.
The Department of Health welcomed the court’s decision.
Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said the court found that the establishment of the NHI Branch as part of the department’s organisational structure did not amount to the implementation of the bill.
He said: “The functions of the branch remain relevant for any health system in the world, public or private.”
Thus, the creation of these critical posts responsible for among others, health products procurement, healthcare benefits and provider management, health system digital information, risk and fraud management, and user and service provider management, are part of broader health system strengthening.”
Mohale said the ruling paved the way for the department to prepare for the roll-out of NHI once it had been signed into law.
“The judgment simply means the department has got the right to continue with the work to strengthen the public health system of the country to respond to the health-care needs and demands of the population,” he said.