The African National Congress (ANC) believes the Constitutional Court will uphold the constitutionality of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and affirm the State’s move to roll out universal healthcare.

The Constitutional Court is hearing two major challenges to the NHI Act between Tuesday and Thursday, focusing on an allegedly flawed parliamentary public participation processes.

In February, President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that he would not promulgate any provisions of the NHI Act prior to the Constitutional Court handing down judgment on these public participation challenges, and that he would not enforce any part of the Act until he was requested to do so by the Minister of Health.

The ANC reaffirmed its “unwavering commitment” to the NHI, with party spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu stating that the NHI was an historic instrument to dismantle the entrenched inequalities that continue to define South Africa’s health system.

“More than three decades into democracy, access to quality healthcare remains structurally determined by socioeconomic status. This dual system, one for the affluent and another for the majority, stands in direct contradiction to the values of equality and dignity that the Constitution seeks to entrench,” she explained.

She pointed out that the NHI sought to correct this by pooling the nation’s resources to ensure universal and equitable access to quality healthcare services.

The ANC claimed that following extensive consultations with communities and organisations, South Africans had expressed support for the NHI.

Bhengu accused those opposing the NHI of seeking to preserve a system that reproduced inequality and delayed the full realisation of constitutional rights.

Such opposition had profound social consequences, she added.

“… it risks entrenching a reality in which dignity is conditional and access to healthcare is determined by wealth rather than need.”

Bhengu argued that the NHI challenges entrenched privilege, pointing to private hospitals and medical aids serving a minority while the under-resourced public health system served the majority of citizens.

“Resistance to the NHI is, therefore, not only about constitutional interpretation, but also about the defence of privilege, structural advantage and historic inequality,” she stated.