‘Populist gimmick’: IFP and DA leaders slam signing of NHI Bill on eve of election

In a fiery address at the Inkatha Freedom Party’s (IFP) Sizonqoba Rally in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday, leader Velenkosini Hlabisa lambasted President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to sign the National Health Insurance (NHI) bill into law.

Hlabisa declared that while the IFP supports universal healthcare, the NHI is “a failure from the start”.

Hlabisa’s sentiments were echoed by Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen, who spoke at the party’s final rally in Willowmoore Park, Benoni.

Steenhuisen dubbed the NHI a “populist gimmick” by the African National Congress (ANC).

ALSO READ: WATCH: ‘If Nelson Mandela was around, he would be voting for Bosa’ – Maimane

NHI a doomed failure from the start – IFP leader

Both leaders expressed concerns about the funding and implementation of the NHI, with Hlabisa stating that there are no plans to fund the initiative.

The criticism from the IFP and DA highlights the ongoing debate and controversy surrounding the NHI bill.

The IFP leader accused Ramaphosa of ignoring the “constitutional challenges” and “massive backlash” bound to be faced by the newly signed act.

ALSO READ: WATCH: MK party claims sabotage amid another  Zuma no show at rally 

Signing NHI Bill on eve of election

Hlabisa questioned the timing and intentions of Ramaphosa’s signing of the bill, mere days before the election. Also throwing shade at his choosing of now listening to experts whom he has previously given the cold shoulder.

“The question is, why did the president sign this bill into law on the eve of the election, and all of a sudden he is now willing to listen to the experts?”

He further, emphasised that the IFP believes in universal healthcare, but maintained that the NHI is fundamentally flawed.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Malema vows to ‘raid Phala Phala’ when EFF takes over SA

Potential for corruption and mismanagement

Moreover, Hlabisa expressed concerns about the potential for corruption and mismanagement in the state-administered single fund, which will maintain the country’s health care resources.

He then called for the decentralisation of universal health care so that that a great amount of control can be handed to provinces so as to precisely and accurately fit people’s needs where they are.

“Universal health care must be decentralised to provinces so that it can be managed closer to where people are,” he stressed.

Watch: Velenkosini Hlabisa keynote address at Sizonqoba rally in KZN

NHI an ‘assault of aspirations’ – Steenhuisen

Steenhuisen was equally scathing in his criticism, labeling the NHI an “assault on the aspirations of South Africans.”

He pledged that the DA would not resort to “populist political gimmicks” and instead offered a “rational and sustainable plan” to achieve universal access to quality healthcare.

“Unlike the ANC, the DA doesn’t do populist political gimmicks,” Steenhuisen said.

“Instead of expropriating medical aid funds, we have a rational and sustainable plan to achieve universal access to quality healthcare by making private medical aid affordable for more people, while rooting out corruption and mismanagement from public hospitals and clinics – just like we have already done in the Western Cape,” he added.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Ramaphosa tells ANC supporters to vote for ‘handsome guy like me’