NHI Sparks Alarm and Calls for Healthcare Reform

Original Article by Temba A Nolutshungu | Business Day | 26 May 2025

NHI sparks alarm as critics raise concerns over South Africa's public healthcare system and the impact on private medical schemes.

NHI sparks alarm as critics raise concerns over South Africa’s public healthcare system and the impact on private medical schemes.

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Dr Thembisile Xulu is the new health Director-General, inheriting a strained department, healthcare-worker shortages and NHI litigation.

Gauteng is losing 100 nurses a month and needs R5.7bn to fill a 16,000-post gap. This shortage now flagged as a key risk to the NHI rollout.

Regulation, not demand, blocks affordable cover: medical schemes should be allowed to offer low-cost benefit options (LCBOs) now.