Constitutional Court to decide fate of NHI Act amid public participation Concerns

The Constitutional Court heard cases concerning South Africa’s controversial National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme. The case was brought by the Western Cape Provincial Government and the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF), challenging the drafting of the Act. The Constitutional Court has reserved judgment on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act after two days of hearings.

The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) and the Western Cape Government (WCG) argue that Parliament failed to engage in meaningful public participation before passing the Act. On Wednesday, counsel for WCG, Geoff Budlender SC, argued that in at least two provinces, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP)breached processesand in so doing failed to provide an opportunity to influence the law-making process. The WCG contended that, in the Western Cape where vigorous engagements were held, the timetable was unduly curtailed and unreasonable, as it requested further engagements but was denied the opportunity.

This was in contrast to Gauteng province, where the NCOP had not been transparent about whether it had received a report from the Select Committee on Health and Social Services, detailing where and who the representatives were that attended the meetings, and whether any were held at all. Budlender saidin the absence of reportsor an affidavit from Gauteng’s select committee representative who attended and can account for the engagements held, there was a failure of compliance, and its “silence is deafening”.