AfriForum will be hosting community meetings in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape within the next two weeks. The purpose of these meetings is to mobilise the community to attend the public hearings for the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill in order to comment on this destructive bill.
AfriForum will give more clarity at the community meetings about the harmful impact the implementation of the NHI Bill would have and will also answer any questions from the community. Representatives of AfriForum will then attend the public hearings to communicate the civil rights organisation’s opposition to NHI.
“We want to encourage the public to oppose NHI in every possible way. This includes submitting comments online, as well as giving AfriForum the mandate to oppose the Bill on the community’s behalf. However, we want to emphasise that it is important that people attend the public hearings to show resistance to NHI. The more opposition to NHI is shown, the less likely it will be promulgated into law,” says Natasha Venter, AfriForum’s spokesperson for NHI.
The public hearings will take place from 25 to 29 October in Mpumalanga and 1 to 4 November in the Northern Cape. Dates for hearings in the other provinces have not yet been provided by government’s Portfolio Committee on Health. Furthermore, the venues and times for the hearings in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape have not yet been released. AfriForum will continuously keep communities informed of the arrangements for the public hearings.
“The fact that the arrangements for the public hearings have not yet been communicated, is telling of the fact that government is not ready to roll out a project of this magnitude and that NHI is doomed to failure,” says Venter.
The public can RSVP here https://antiek.afriforum.co.za/en/divisions/campaigns/national-health-insurance/ to attend AfriForum’s community meetings.