No rational person can take issue with the government’s desire to improve the nation’s health.  There is no question that a healthier population is a happier and more productive one. And it is simply wrong that 20 years after the end of apartheid the quality of health services available to South Africans still largely depends on the colour of their skin.

The wealthy, who remain largely white, have ready access to private health care, while the poor, who remain mostly black, depend on a corrupt and underresourced public health system lurching from one crisis to another...