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Any further implementation of the National Health Insurance Act (NHI) must now be stopped with immediate effect, following a court order.

This was decided today in the Pretoria High Court, where Solidarity, as one of the parties, agreed to place its litigation on hold on condition that the implementation and further development of the NHI cease immediately.

This arrangement will remain in force until the Constitutional Court has delivered a ruling on the rationality of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to sign the NHI Act in 2024.
Ramaphosa’s legal team agreed to this arrangement under pressure from Solidarity and others. 

Solidarity has also, following the issuance of the court order today, sent a letter of demand[LK1.1] to the president, the Department of Health, the treasury, and the relevant ministers, warning them against any disregard[LK2.1] of the NHI court order.

No further budgetary concessions may now be granted in respect of the NHI, and Solidarity intends to institute legal proceedings against the government should it fail to comply.
Such concessions may arise particularly during the 2026 budget speech, scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Solidarity has nevertheless welcomed the provisional suspension of the NHI.
“This court ruling is a major breakthrough in our opposition to the NHI. It is beyond comprehension that taxpayers’ money is being used to establish a system that faces such extensive litigation,” says Theuns du Buisson, economic researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI).
“The NHI will never be realised. It is simply unworkable, unaffordable, and irrational. It is deeply concerning that anyone could regard it as a sound policy[LK3.1], particularly given that billions of rands have already been spent on it. 
“Yet these billions of rands in costs would be only a fraction of the far greater sums and the irreversible loss of life that the NHI package would entail if implemented.”

Solidarity will therefore use the court order to ensure that no further funds are wasted and that workable alternatives are advanced.

In its notice, Solidarity specifically calls for renewed and substantive engagement on viable alternatives to the NHI. The preferred outcome of such discussions would be the adoption of the Healthcare Funding Reform Bill – a bill that Solidarity submitted to Parliament in early 2025.

Du Buisson states that the intention to cease all implementation must also be taken into account when considering the future of medical aid tax credits.
“There is no reason at this stage to scrap it. On the contrary, it should be increased. The treasury has left it unchanged since 2023, while medical aid members have had to contend with double-digit increases in their premiums,” says Du Buisson.

•    See attached Solidarity’s notice of contempt of court order here.
•    Click here for Solidarity’s alternative bill.
•    Click here for Solidarity’s NHI court documents.

Issued by Solidarity