The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (DENOSA) and the union Cosatu appealed to all South Africans to give the NHI a ‘fair chance’ rather than labelling it as prone to ‘corruption or failure’, reported City Press (6 April 20p25)
DENOSA’s Secretary General, Kwena Manamela, said it was important to distinguish between infrastructure challenges in the public healthcare system and the NHI’s core function,
“Let the Fund take care of the healthcare of the people – fund it, pay for it = and let Government take care of the infrastructure. Walls falling off, plumbing, roads: that’s not the NHI’’s function,” said Manameka.
Regarding corruption, Manamela said: “We should not pre-empt corruption in the implementation of the NHI. We should allow it to come into effect.”