Parliament, Saturday, 16 2019 – The overwhelming majority of the people of Thulamela Local Municipality in Limpopo welcomed the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill.
The Portfolio Committee on Health is in the Limpopo Province since yesterday, Friday 15 November, to afford the people of Limpopo an opportunity to express their views on the Bill. Thulamela Local Municipality hosted the first leg of the hearings in the province where the committee observed an overwhelming majority of the people in a fully packed Makwarela community hall welcoming the Bill.
In their oral submissions, the people of Vhembe District Municipality’s Thulamela Local Municipality told the committee that implementation of the NHI is long overdue. They asked the committee to explain the way in which the implementation of the NHI is going to be managed as they are already looking forward with enthusiasm to its implementation.
They urged Parliament to ensure that there are strong measures in place to protect the implementation of the NHI from all forms of fraud and corruption, and they told the committee to ensure that undocumented foreign nationals do not benefit unlawfully from the NHI.
The Chairperson of the committee, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, said: “The NHI is the financing system that will ensure that all South African citizens and legal long-term residents are provided with essential healthcare, regardless of their employment status and ability to make a direct monetary contribution to the NHI Fund.”
Organisations that represented at yesterday’s hearings included, Vhembe Health Traditional Forum, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU).
The committee has already held public hearings in Mpumalanga and Northern Cape provinces on the Bill. After Limpopo, the committee goes to KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces.
Details of the remaining public hearings are as follows:
Mopani District, Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality
Date: Saturday, 16 November 2019
Venue: Lenyenye Community Hall
Time: 10:00-15:00
Sekhukhune District Municipality, Ga-Nkoana
Date: Sunday, 17 November 2019
Venue: Mabotha Civic Centre
Time: 10:00-15:00
Capricon District Municipality, Polokwane
Date: Monday, 18 November 2019
Venue: Jack Botes Town Hall
Time: 16:30-20:30
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, DR SIBONGISENI DHLOMO
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairpersons, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Mr Justice Molafo
Tel: 021 403 8444
Cell: 081 424 7481
Email: jmolafo@parliament.gov.
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