Following a judgement handed down by the Gauteng High Court which declared sections of the National Health Insurance Act unconstitutional, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi expressed his “deep concern”.
At issue were provisions in the Act that would require certificates of need by doctors to practise. This would effectively allow the state to control where doctors could operate, and in theory give it the power to allocate medical skills to underserved areas.
That case was brought before the court by the Solidarity trade union.
In a statement, Motsoaledi said: “Our intention as the department is to regulate health facilities and provision of healthcare as this is our mandate, but the court seems to have concentrated on economic property rights. The judgment is about the regulation of health establishments through licensing, both public and private, something which is common around the work. For example, one cannot wake up one day and open a filling station or mall without needs assessments, the same was the case with health establishments.”
Solidarity, by contrast, welcomed the judgement, saying that the NHI in its current form was not constitutional.