An association of veteran health activists has warned any further cuts to the health budget will compromise public health services, with catastrophic consequences for millions of patients.
In an open letter sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, and Health Minister Joe Phaahla on Tuesday, the Progressive Health Forum (PHF) called on the government to protect the public health system in its next round of belt-tightening.
Further cuts would result in “measurable and immediate morbidity and deaths in an already overburdened system,” the PHF said.
“As health professionals we reject the notion that it [the government] can make decisions like this because of potentially unlawful commitments, knowing that it did not have the financial resources to meet them,” it said, referring to the 2023 public sector wage bill settlement that exceeded Treasury’s February budget allocation by R37bn.
Treasury warned government departments at the end of August that SA faced “unprecedented challenges” for the current fiscal year. In addition to the higher than anticipated wage settlement, the 2023 economic outlook had worsened, tax revenue collection had deteriorated, and government borrowing costs had been higher than expected, it said.
In preparation for the medium-term budget policy statement, expected in the first week of November, Treasury instructed government departments to curb spending by instituting a hiring freeze, scrapping all non-essential travel, and halting new infrastructure spending.
Treasury has also proposed to the presidency that some government departments and programmes be scrapped.
Treasury instituted unprecedented budget cuts in 2021 after the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and the spending plans it announced in the February budget saw consolidated health expenditure shrink in real terms over the medium term.
The PHF said the government had disregarded budget constraints when it concluded the 2023 wage agreement with unions, and was now transferring the consequences of these poor decisions to vulnerable people who relied on public services.
“The consequences of any reduction in resources for health services are immediate and frequently catastrophic,” it said.
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