President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday said if South Africa’s health care system is marred with unauthorised expenditure, the entire country will suffer the consequences.

Ramaphosa was speaking at the launch of the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum which is expected to fight the scourge of corruption.

The forum was established following the historic signing of the Presidential Health Summit 2018 Compact, which mandated government and social partners to work together to reform the healthcare system.

Stakeholders include the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Section27, Corruption Watch, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), the Portfolio Committee on Health and the Department of Health.

Ramaphosa said it was sad that victims in the health care sector were the poorest and the most vulnerable people in South Africa.

However, he said it was encouraging to see government collaborating with the NPA and other agencies as part of the forum in fighting corruption in the health sector, which has been recently identified as a sector where many corrupt deals are sealed.

“The forum will help to curb corruption as we are also signing a terms of reference which is one of the critical steps in transforming the health sector in South Africa. This is part of the concrete steps our country should and will be taking to reduce collusion. It is concerning that the money spent in the sector does not amount to the outcomes. 

“Months leading up to the recent elections, I spoke to many South Africans who shared their challenges in accessing health care services. It was painful to me to hear about how this fundamental right has failed our people as a result of corruption,” Ramaphosa added.

He said people had been made to pay for services that were meant to be free and added that it was worrying to hear of doctors and nurses who were moonlighting instead of working where they were required.

Ramaphosa stated that some of these problems also existed in the private sector and include collusion, price fixing and a lack of accountability. 

He went on to say that the key issue to be addressed by the forum would be supply management as it was identified as the most lucrative.

He said this area was plagued with tender irregularities, bribery and fraudulent activities.

Ramaphosa said that the issue of politicians taking advantage by making money owing to their political powers needed to be addressed and stressed that government would deal with them.

He said as the country was dealing with State capture, government would ensure that all those implicated in corrupt dealings were dealt with.

On the National Health Insurance (NHI), Ramaphosa said while attending the G20 Summit it was encouraging to hear that there were countries that had already successfully implemented health care systems similar to the NHI.

“The NHI will be able to improve the quality of life for citizens. Reduction of corruption has also been noted in such systems. The dividend will be that our people will have better lives. We cannot achieve such for as long as we still have corruption in the sector. The diversity in the forum will build a solid collaboration to deal with the issues at hand,” he noted.

He mentioned that it was important that the NHI be protected before it was implemented and to alleviate the fears of those who said the system won’t materialise.

“The forum will enable us to have all the antennas up as we embark on preventative measures from the word go,” he reiterated.

National Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said he was grateful for the forum's launch because it would help his department curb the loss of funds.

“I am pleased to hear that there are reports on various corruption cases across all the provinces. I hope the forum will also fast-track finalisation of all the investigations. We are also happy that the civil society feels welcome in the forum. The launch of the health sector forum came at the right time. We can’t afford anything that will dent our reputation”.

“Over-servicing and overpricing are the big issues in the health sector. We have more doctors but they are not as available as the numbers suggest. We need an action approach in fighting corruption,” said Mkhize.  

Portfolio Committee on Health chairperson Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, who was the MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal in the previous administration, told Polity that he was very pleased about the work that the forum had undertaken in fighting corruption, especially in KwaZulu-Natal.

Under Dr Dhlomo’s watch KwaZulu-Natal was found wanting in terms of irregularities in procurement of oncology machines at Addington Hospital among other issues.

“I am happy that the forum will look into such issues because I tried to report the issues with evidence but it was frustrating to be told by the NPA that they can’t do anything,” he said.

At the launch the SIU, the national Department of Health, the Council for Medical Schemes, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Health Funders Association, the Health Professions Council of South Africa, Corruption Watch, the NPA, Section27 and the board of Healthcare Funders of Southern Africa signed a terms of reference, outlining the mutual support and cooperation they will lend towards the fight against fraud and corrupt practices in the healthcare sector.