President Cyril Ramaphosa will not rush into signing the NHI Bill into law until he has satisfied himself all processes were followed. Picture: Armand Hough/ Independent Newspapers
President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged the nation not to panic over the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, saying he will apply his mind properly before he signs it into law to ensure it meets Constitutional muster.
This comes as the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) was expected to vote on the Bill on Wednesday, but the voting on the bill was postponed to next week Wednesday.
NCOP chairperson Amos Masondo said they have postponed the debate on the bill for a week.
NCOP chief whip Seiso Mohai confirmed to the chamber that members of the legislature will now vote on the piece of legislation next week.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said there was no need to panic over the bill once it was passed by the NCOP.
Magwenya said the president will apply his mind before he signs it into law.
He will have to satisfy himself if all processes were followed before the Houses of Parliament adopted the NHI Bill.
This would include the consultation process as required by the Constitution.
Magwenya, who was briefing the media on Wednesday, said concerns have been raised with Ramaphosa directly on the bill.
This related to certain provisions of the NHI bill.
“Once the bill has been passed, the president still has a constitutional imperative in processing that bill before he signs it to look at the process. One of the things he would look at is, ‘has there been sufficient consultation and if so, have those consultations sufficiently addressed issues of concern.’
“It is within his constitutional remit to send back a bill should he have any concerns with it. The passing of the bill does not necessarily mark the conclusion of the process and the president does not each time he receives a bill he just signs it.
“He has a constitutional duty to properly evaluate the process to look at the Constitutional alignment of that bill and if he so desires, he can open another round of consultations to satisfy himself that what he will sign will not be subject to endless litigation and in the end be counter-productive,” said Magwenya.
Some opposition parties and civil society organisations have already sent warnings that they will challenge the bill in court.
Business this week urged the NCOP not to adopt the bill, saying the process followed lacked credibility because no amendments were made.
This was despite submissions made to the parliamentary committee in the NCOP dealing with the processing of the NHI Bill.
Business also warned that the bill may face legal challenges.
But Magwenya said there was no need to panic over the NHI bill.
“I don’t think there should should be any panic with regards to the passing of the NHI bill. The president would do whatever is necessary to ensure that the bill passes constitutional muster and that bill at the end of the day delivers on its ultimate objective,” said Magwenya.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics