“Many experts fear that policymakers are underestimating the risk of corruption in NHI.” – Editorial Business Day (6 March 2026)
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU)’s uncovering of “deep seated rot in the Department of Home Affairs revealing the lack of oversight and a culture of impunity” .
The recent arrest by of the Department Health’s Director-General, Sandile Buthelezi, and two other senior officials on charges of fraud and theft related to the diversion of money from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria suggests the same “culture of rot”.
“Despite these warnings, the NHI Bill moved through Parliament without substantive changes to its anti-corruption safeguards. The current evidence suggests that state institutions remain highly vulnerable to capture.
“While corruption in the visa system undermines national security, corruption in healthcare is a matter of life and death. Public health facilities are already struggling with crumbling infrastructure and resource shortages. Every rand lost to a fraudulent tender is a rand taken away from patient care.”