Will the budget help fulfil Ramaphosa’s healthcare promises?
Tito Mboweni is to reveal how the government aims to give effect to the commitments the president made in his stimulus package
President Cyril Ramaphosa has injected a new sense of urgency into the government’s efforts to tackle the crisis in public health care, promising to increase funding and convening a high-level summit to chart a plan for tackling the sector’s ills. The healthcare industry will be closely watching finance minister Tito Mboweni’s medium-term budget policy statement on Wednesday for details of how the government intends to give effect to the commitments the president made when he delivered his economic stimulus package in September. They include undertakings to fill 2,200 critical posts, improve the supply of linen, beds and other essential items and establish a R400bn infrastructure fund, which, according to deputy president David Mabuza, will include an allocation for health. “Wherever you look, there is a systematic breakdown. Not a month passes without someone calling to tell me there is a hospital whose theatre roof is falling in, or the boilers are not being maintained,” says Mzuk...
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