Some Zimbabweans are concerned about Dr Aaron Motsoaledi’s return as Minister of Health in South Africa, citing his previous harsh attitude toward migrants, notably Zimbabweans, accusing them of overwhelming their hospitals.
Dr Motsoaledi was appointed Minister of Health in South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) Cabinet, succeeding Dr Joe Phaahla, now deputy minister.
He is no stranger to the health sector, having served as Minister from 2009 to 2019.
However, Zimbabweans are sceptical about Dr Motsoaledi’s return, noting that after his 10-year stay in the position, he demonstrated a lack of tolerance for the migrant community, whose anti-immigration attitudes were quite common in the health sector.
“Dr Motsoaledi’s return as the Minister of Health is a gross concern. We have many clips that have shown where he has been very xenophobically dealing with health issues, actually blaming migrants, particularly from Zimbabwe, for flooding the hospitals and causing them not to deliver appropriately,” said Dr Vusumuzi Sibanda, leader of the African Diaspora Global Network in an interview with CITE.
Dr Sibanda stated that as Home Affairs Minister, Dr Motsoaledi demonstrated anti-migrant policies regarding permits in a legal case that had to be heard by South Africa’s Constitutional Court. When he was previously Minister of Health, he accused Zimbabwean migrants of “stealing medication that they don’t deserve or making themselves available for medication they don’t deserve.”
He also warned Zimbabweans and others to exercise caution because Dr Motsoaledi could create a crisis for individuals needing treatment.
“We have seen this make a lot of migrants fail to get treatment at hospitals, so we are expecting that there’s going to be a serious war that’s going to start again or start afresh in the sector where Dr Motsoaledi is going to be heading now,” Dr Sibanda said.
Dr Sibanda went on to say he has noticed how some South African government officials tend to identify with populist rhetorical attitudes to be perceived as the next best possible person for specific posts.
“We once discussed Dr Phophi Ramathuba, who is currently the Premier of Limpopo after serving as the province’s Health Member of the Executive Council (MEC). Dr Motsoaledi formerly worked in health before becoming Minister of Home Affairs; he is now back in the health department. These people have participated in similar conducts against migrants,” he noted.
Nicholas Ngqabutho Mabhena, Chairperson of the Zimbabwean Community in South Africa, shared similar thoughts, pointing out that migrants may have difficulties in receiving treatment.
“In our view, it is going to be difficult for migrants to receive treatment because we suspect Dr. Motsoaledi is going to order hospital CEOs to make sure people without proper documentation are not treated or that they pay upfront in public hospitals,” he said.
“If one’s bill is R25,000 and they don’t earn that money, because it’s a public hospital for someone who has documents and is South African they will not pay because the State will cover that. But for an undocumented migrant, they will have to pay upfront.”
Mabhena said even holders of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs) may be required to pay hospital charges upfront.
“This is what we think the hospital CEOs will be told to do, to make sure that holders of ZEP and undocumented migrants struggle. It’s what we think and we will see how the minister will proceed. He may have a change of heart or policy,” said the chairperson.
Mabhena said the last time Dr Motsoaledi was Minister of Health, the former ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), had adopted the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill.
The NHI is South Africa’s strategy to achieve universal health coverage, which is a centralised, national insurance fund from which the government will buy healthcare services from healthcare providers in both public and private sectors and was recently signed into law.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the health insurance into law just before the elections so it is yet to be seen how Dr Motsoaledi will roll out the NHI, which as we know the GNU partners are opposed to, in particular the Democratic Alliance (DA),” Mabhena said.
“ANC’s alliance partners such as the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) want the NHI to be implemented.”
According to Mabhena, South Africans were also looking at how Dr Motsoaledi was going to balance the two opposing views concerning the NHI.
“We shall see whether he’s going to please the ANC and alliance partners by implementing the NHI or he’s going to face pressure from the DA and others opposed to it. It is an interesting time so people will be watching him to see how he’s going to proceed,” he said.
South African reports have also said some medical professionals and civil society advocates were cautiously optimistic about Dr Motsoaledi’s appointment as Minister of Health, while some critics argued he had left the public service in a worse state than he found it, resulting in a struggling health department.
