Pravin Gordhan said that although the first phase would be implemented in Q2 of next year in the form of 10 pilot projects which would be launched in selected districts.
The first five years would focus on enabling the public health system to provide quality healthcare.
He also stressed that the costs of implementing such a huge venture would not overburden the stae as it would be planned carefully and the costs would be incurred over a period of time.
Many had feared that the NHI system would be rushed into operation next year with unknown consequences for South Africa’s overburdened 5 million taxpayers and with potentially disastrous results for the private healthcare sector.
