WATCH: Lesufi slammed for his NHI electioneering 'lies'

NEWS

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, has been slammed by the public and opposition parties for making bold promises to the public and making wildly unrealistic promises while on the campaign trail, related to the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme and the 29 May elections.

In a trending video clip that has left the public angry at Lesufi for lying and making empty promises to vulnerable residents in disadvantaged communities, Lesufi is seen promising that anyone who votes for the ANC will be able to walk into any private health care facility, whether it be a clinic or a hospital, to get medical assistance, and the government will pay.

To applause from the audience, he promised that voters would have access to specialist private healthcare, saying: "After treating you, the government will pay that bill free of charge."

Watch the video here:

Lesufi then went on to promise the demise of private medical aid schemes and escape from the currently poor state of public healthcare, saying: 

READ: Solly Msimanga | Gauteng infrastructure crumbles while Lesufi dilly dallies

However, this promise is clearly not feasible, because the National Health Insurance Bill has not yet been signed off, and the NHI is still far from being ready for implementation, according to experts.

Just a week ago, head of Health Systems Strengthening Dr Rajesh Patel from the Board of Health Funders (BHF) cautioned the department of health to get its house in order first, before even thinking of rolling out the bill into practice.

He said the implementation of the NHI in its current form was a disaster waiting to happen, because there was no plan in the current NHI form to fund the bill. He also said the government needed to first fix the current poorly maintained Gauteng hospitals before talking NHI.

READ: BHF pushes for NHI improvements amid public health sector challenges

Patel also said the government needed to start making it mandatory that all departments and all personnel in the health system; from health district directors to CEOs, needed to start being held accountable for how they handle money and usage of resources in hospitals, before rushing to implement the universal health coverage concept in SA.

Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Tshwane is one of the many public hospitals expected to function differently under the NHI.

Supplied

Gauteng health shadow MEC for the DA Jack Bloom has also slammed the wild promises made by Lesufi in his election speech, and has deemed it as a desperate action to stay in office.

Bloom said:

National health spokesperson Foster Mohale also confirmed that the NHI bill has not yet been signed off, saying while government welcomes the efforts by stakeholders to improve the healthcare system, the bill is waiting for the president's signature before the next step in its implementation.