ActionSA intros bill so Members of Parliament can use public healthcare

CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit speaks with Dr Kgosi Letlape, an ActionSA Member of Parliament (MP).

Listen below:

The public healthcare system in South Africa is in a state of disaster, but those with the power to fix it are largely unaffected.

MPs have access to exclusive medical aid, which shields them from the struggles of understaffed and underfunded hospitals that ordinary South Africans use.

ActionSA has introduced a new bill aiming to change that.

This bill would end compulsory membership in the Parliamentary and Provincial Medical Aid Scheme (PARMED) in an attempt to make public representatives experience the same realities as the communities they serve.

“Right now, we have no skin in the game; in changing healthcare in this country, we can't lead by example.”

- Dr Kgosi Letlape, MP - ActionSA

Instead, PARMED would be voluntary, meaning MPs and judges could choose to remain on the scheme, join a different medical aid scheme, or use public facilities.

RELATED: Here's an idea... 'Ministers must be forced to use public hospitals!'

“When we have a choice, we would be able to exercise our conscience.”

- Dr Kgosi Letlape, MP - ActionSA

Scroll up to the audio player for more.