DA says it is ready to fight NHI all the way to ConCourt

President Cyril Ramaphosa's intention to sign the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill into law on Wednesday is a destructive move before the elections born out of fear about how the ANC will fare at the polls, says DA leader John Steenhuisen.

He denounced it as a populist move by Ramaphosa amid pollster predictions the ANC was at risk of falling below 50% in the elections.

“It is a dishonour to the office of president that Ramaphosa could sink this low. What he has done by making this announcement is to play with the lives of the South African people for imaginary political gain,” he said.

Steenhuisen said the DA, on its signing into law by Ramaphosa, will challenge the NHI “all the way to the Constitutional Court”.

“Our legal team was briefed months ago and will file our legal challenge against this devastating legislation without delay. We have built up reams of correspondence, including with Ramaphosa himself, we will enter into evidence to show the process which led to the adoption of the bill by parliament disregarded public input, and the bill itself is flagrantly unconstitutional.”

To implement the NHI would cost at least R200bn per year, according to DA calculations.

“It would be the equivalent of increasing VAT from 14% to 21.5%, increasing personal income tax by 31%, imposing an additional payroll tax of R1,500 per month on every working person, or a combination of all of the above.”

The funds would be deposited into a central fund controlled “by one almighty ANC cadre” and empower the health minister to be directly involved in the day-to-day management of “the biggest pile of taxpayer money that has ever been accumulated in South Africa”, Steenhuisen said.

The spectre of the risk of looting is not theoretical, he said, referring to the Digital Vibes scandal.

Steenhuisen said within hours of Ramaphosa’s announcement on Monday, the DA was inundated with queries from panicked citizens.

“Some asked if this meant their sick relatives would continue to receive the critical care keeping them alive, whether their medical aids have expired, and how they are supposed to afford the astronomical tax increases Ramaphosa plans to impose. The scale of panic we saw in response to this announcement is without precedent.”

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