LETTER: ANC could fall further

It seems the ANC harbours secret ambitions of being returned to power after the next national elections at the conclusion of the five-year term of the government of national unity (GNU).

It seems to hope the GNU would have done the spadework of turning around everything that had brought the country to the brink of collapse under the ANC, leading to many voters ditching it in the 2024 elections.

But nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, if it continues to make serious blunders, even with the GNU the ANC’s support in future elections might even less than 40%. Voters have been fooled for 30 years and will not allow a repeat of that downward spiral of their country.

I learnt recently, after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to China with a few of his ministers, that some middle-class Chinese have signed up for medical aid with Discovery, to top up their national health insurance services.

The UK, which has had universal healthcare coverage since 1948, has many citizens that are also on medical aid because the National Health Service (NHS) does not cover treatment for all diseases and surgical procedures. Besides, waiting times at NHS hospitals can be exceptionally long. Patients sometimes die while waiting for diagnosis or treatment.

Only one state hospital in Gauteng, the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, provides high-quality patient care. The rest are in need of major improvements in most areas. It is therefore disturbing to learn that instead of overhauling every aspect of public health in the province, health minister Aaron Motsoaledi and his officials are intent on scrapping medical aids.

This is a clear indication that they need to look more closely at universal healthcare coverage instead of fixating on its wrongly imagined advantages for the poor, when the country lacks everything that might ensure high quality patient care for all.

What happened to the promise that every area of health that needs to be revisited and improved would be overhauled before the implementation of NHI?

Cometh Dube-Makholwa
Midrand

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