Most organisations taking the NHI Act to Court rejected Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s suggestion that the matter should be settled out of Court. – Business Day (20 Jan 2026(
“Several groups argue that meaningful engagement should have happened during the law-making process, not after the Act was signed.”
Parties challenging the NHI Act are trade union Solidarity; medical scheme bodies: the Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF) and the Health Funders Association (HFA); doctor groupings: the South African Private Practitioners’ Forum (SAPPF) and the SA Medical Association (SAMA); the Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA), representing private hospitals; business lobby group Sakeliga; and Western Cape Health.
HASA: would not have gone to Court if Government had engaged in constructive discussion earlier.
The BHF: Several proposals had been blocked, leaving it with no option but to seek clarity through the Courts to protect patients and system sustainability.
SAPPF: is willing to join “true and open dialogue” on universal health coverage, but CEO Simon Strachan questioned why Government has not responded to alternatives by Universal Healthcare Access Coalition (UHAC) and Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), submitted to the President more than a year ago.
The HFA: will pursue its legal challenge in parallel with any future discussions linked to BUSA’s proposal.
Sakeliga: called NHI an “unacceptably extreme proposal” and rejecting the idea that all litigants support universal health coverage under the State’s current design.
Solidarity: has been willing to negotiate but its position is that it will not settle on anything that includes any form of NHI.