{"id":851350,"date":"2026-02-18T13:23:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=851350"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:27:11","slug":"new-legal-challenge-launched-against-ramaphosa-and-the-nhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/851350\/new-legal-challenge-launched-against-ramaphosa-and-the-nhi\/","title":{"rendered":"New legal challenge launched against Ramaphosa and the NHI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Another legal case has been launched against the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, directly challenging the constitutionality of the NHI Act, seeking to have it declared invalid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court action has been initiated by lobby group AfriForum, and joins several other legal challenges currently underway from industry representative bodies and political parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to AfriForum, its legal case\u2014a summons served on President Cyril Ramaphosa and Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, among others\u2014differs in that it launches a &#8220;comprehensive attack&#8221; on the NHI Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The court documents express that AfriForum &#8220;foresees material factual disputes&#8221; arising during proceedings, which will require cross-examination and the presentation of factual and expert oral evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The action proceeding offers, among other things, the opportunity to provide expert testimony in court if there are disputes about the facts,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The legal action is based on the premise that the NHI Act is inconsistent with the Constitution and must therefore be declared invalid and referred back to parliament, it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some points of unconstitutionality that AfriForum objects to include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The dilution of provincial governments\u2019 constitutional powers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The restriction of patients\u2019 freedom of choice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The restriction of health practitioners&#8217; clinical independence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The lack of rationality of the NHI framework, due to its economic unworkability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The group argues that the NHI Act impairs the constitutional rights of the South African public by limiting their choice of healthcare access, while also infringing on the rights of the provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As other court challenges have also raised, the group flags multiple issues and complications relating to the private sector, including patients who use these services and the healthcare professionals who operate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AfriForum said that NHI is completely unworkable, adding that the worst thing that can happen to taxpayers is the allocation of funds \u2013 equivalent to 10% of South Africa\u2019s gross domestic product \u2013 to a health system that will never function effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe true cost of NHI will be much more than its mere rand value. The loss of, among other things, constitutional rights and patients\u2019 freedom of choice will ultimately result in a much higher price being paid,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Another case, another roadblock<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/godongwana-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/godongwana-2-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-819246\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/godongwana-2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/godongwana-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/godongwana-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/godongwana-2.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Several analysts, experts, and the government itself have warned that the NHI is at risk of being bogged down by legal challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This would make an already decades-long rollout drag on for even longer, keeping the ANC&#8217;s healthcare plan far from reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana recently tried to convince litigants and affected government departments to avoid this scenario by coming together to find a way forward outside the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, parties representing the private sector&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/848374\/nhi-peace-plan-falls-flat-in-south-africa\/\"><strong>were not receptive to this<\/strong><\/a>, saying they had taken the matter to court because the government hadn\u2019t listened to their concerns in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response, the Department of Health itself said that the NHI couldn\u2019t be debated and changed after it had already been through legislative processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It insisted that the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/848819\/government-sends-a-message-to-nhi-critics\/\"><strong>NHI is law<\/strong><\/a>, and the only way to alter it is through judicial review, not through negotiations or settlements after the fact. Thus, the legal option is the only path left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the legal battles mount, the NHI has also become politically unpalatable, barely getting a mention in the president&#8217;s State of the Nation Address (SONA) earlier in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his address, the president simply spoke of &#8220;preparations&#8221; for the NHI and a focus on academic hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We will be undertaking substantial investment in health infrastructure, prioritising the construction and revitalisation of academic hospitals,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another major stumbling block is the Budget. There is no clarity on how much the NHI will cost or what services it will offer. Estimates range between R300 billion and R1.5 trillion a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Health Department has rejected the notion that the scheme will cost that much and has repeatedly diverted attention away from answering the question of cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regardless, the National Treasury has been hesitant to back the scheme with any zest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Renowned economist Dawie Roodt noted that the scheme would be a disaster for taxpayers and the national fiscus due to the cost, and remarked that the National Treasury itself was fully aware of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said that, at face value, South Africa is spending around R20 billion a year on the NHI, but this is not direct financing for the scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the broader context, the budget does not allocate or provision much for the NHI, which is the Treasury\u2019s way of saying that money could be better spent elsewhere, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This could change with the 2026 Budget being tabled at the end of February. More insight into South Africa&#8217;s spending priorities\u2014including the NHI\u2014will be revealed on 25 February 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AfriForum&#8217;s court documents can be read below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Combined_Summons_and_Particulars_of_Claim_2026.02.02.10.01-1.pdf\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\"><\/iframe>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another legal case has been launched against the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, directly challenging the constitutionality of the NHI Act, seeking to have it declared invalid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":772173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[24785,12033],"class_list":["post-851350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-afrifourm","tag-nhi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851350"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851356,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851350\/revisions\/851356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}