Trade Union Solidarity on Tuesday condemned what it termed “dangerous statements” made by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, saying he uses race to try to gain support for government’s “unworkable” National Health Insurance (NHI).

Speaking at the eighty-second International Pharmaceutical Federation Congress in Cape Town, Motsoaledi compared criticism of the NHI to the apartheid era’s scaremongering about the “swart gevaar” (black peril).

Solidarity said the right steps were not followed in the drafting of the NHI legislation and accused Motsoaledi of not answering the “simplest questions” relating to the NHI. It urged him to provide evidence that showed that the NHI was workable and affordable.

Solidarity Research Institute economic researcher Theuns du Buisson said the Minister’s comments were “irresponsible” and formed part of “dishonest attempts” to appease an international audience about the NHI.

“Without realising it, the Minister is the one taking us straight back to the 1980s. That was when PW Botha used the expression ‘swart gevaar’ to implement policies that no one agreed with. Now Minister Motsoaledi is using it precisely to threaten people about legislation that South Africans simply do not want, and which will cause great harm to all of us,” he said.

He accused Motsoaledi of not showing respect for the Government of National Unity (GNU), and warned that “reckless” NHI advertising could jeopardise the GNU.

“Now is the time for the country to unite on progress. To classify based on race, again, or to accept that rich and poor are equal to white and black, only sows division. Many of the groups that spoke out against the NHI are in no way representative of white communities,” Du Buisson stated.

Solidarity stated that there was not black peril, and warned that everybody in the country could become impoverished and that doctors could leave the country in droves.

“…and in saying this we are talking about people and doctors of all racial groups in South Africa. It is in everyone’s interest that Solidarity stops the NHI with its litigation,” Du Buisson said.