Johnathan Paoli
Critics of the National Health Insurance bill have weighed in threatening legal action and detractors arguing it is rushed and there is not enough funding for its execution leading to further challenges to an already strained public healthcare system.
First to respond to the president’s signing on Wednesday, was the Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen with threats of litigation and serious tax implications for South Africans if the law is enacted. He said his party was ready to go to court to challenge what he described as a pre-election, political stunt.
While the fiscal details underlying the funding of the Bill have not yet been finalised, Steenhuisen said raising taxes was inevitable to fund an estimated R200 billion per year to run the scheme successfully.
“It is more comprehensive in scope, more corrupt in intent, and more deadly in impact than BEE, load shedding, cadre deployment, land expropriation, and nationalisation put together,” Steenhuisen said.
He criticised Minister of Health Dr Joe
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