DA sounds warning on NHI corruption risk
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The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill has inadequate checks and balances to prevent money being looted on a huge scale, the DA warned on Wednesday.
The bill, currently before parliament, is the first piece of enabling legislation for the government’s plans for universal health coverage. It proposes establishing a central NHI fund, overseen by a board appointed by the health minister, that will pay for health services throughout SA.
The scale of alleged corruption that has recently come to light in the awarding of coronavirus contracts and the looting of relief funds has highlighted the dangers of inadequate oversight and accountability, DA health spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube said. “Our view is politicians should be kept away from procurement processes entirely.”
The NHI fund needed to be overseen by an independent board that was free of political interference, she said. The bill needed to be written with the worst-case scenario in mind, so that its institutions could withstand interference from “the worst possible” members of the executive, she said.
The ANC-led government’s management of the coronavirus crisis has been marred by allegations of corruption in the awarding of tenders, with lucrative contracts awarded to politically connected people. The scandal has seen president Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, forced to take a leave of absence after a company owned by her husband was exposed as allegedly winning a tender from the Gauteng health department.
Last week, auditor-general Kimi Makwetu released the first of a series of planned reports into the use of Covid-19 relief funds, exposing how some provincial departments paid up to five times more than the Treasury’s recommended prices for personal protective equipment.
His report also found relief benefits were paid to people who did not qualify, including prison inmates, public servants who were on full pay, and children below the legal working age. In a separate initiative, the Special Investigating Unit is already probing more than 600 cases of alleged fraud, corruption and price gouging relating to personal protective equipment, and earlier this week SA Revenue Service commissioner Edward Kieswetter said most companies awarded PPE contracts were not tax compliant.
Parliament has yet to resolve how to manage the deluge of public submissions it has received in response to the NHI bill, said Gwarube. It received 961 submissions during its tour of the provinces, has received more than 64,000 written submissions and is still debating the terms of reference for ...
The bill, currently before parliament, is the first piece of enabling legislation for the government’s plans for universal health coverage. It proposes establishing a central NHI fund, overseen by a board appointed by the health minister, that will pay for health services throughout SA.
The scale of alleged corruption that has recently come to light in the awarding of coronavirus contracts and the looting of relief funds has highlighted the dangers of inadequate oversight and accountability, DA health spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube said. “Our view is politicians should be kept away from procurement processes entirely.”
The NHI fund needed to be overseen by an independent board that was free of political interference, she said. The bill needed to be written with the worst-case scenario in mind, so that its institutions could withstand interference from “the worst possible” members of the executive, she said.
The ANC-led government’s management of the coronavirus crisis has been marred by allegations of corruption in the awarding of tenders, with lucrative contracts awarded to politically connected people. The scandal has seen president Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, forced to take a leave of absence after a company owned by her husband was exposed as allegedly winning a tender from the Gauteng health department.
Last week, auditor-general Kimi Makwetu released the first of a series of planned reports into the use of Covid-19 relief funds, exposing how some provincial departments paid up to five times more than the Treasury’s recommended prices for personal protective equipment.
His report also found relief benefits were paid to people who did not qualify, including prison inmates, public servants who were on full pay, and children below the legal working age. In a separate initiative, the Special Investigating Unit is already probing more than 600 cases of alleged fraud, corruption and price gouging relating to personal protective equipment, and earlier this week SA Revenue Service commissioner Edward Kieswetter said most companies awarded PPE contracts were not tax compliant.
Parliament has yet to resolve how to manage the deluge of public submissions it has received in response to the NHI bill, said Gwarube. It received 961 submissions during its tour of the provinces, has received more than 64,000 written submissions and is still debating the terms of reference for ...