The proposed regulations set out a new tariff-determination framework for private healthcare in the country.

Professor Alex van den Heever, a member of the UHAC steering committee, has raised concerns about the use of an exemption provision to the Competition Act to manage health policy.

He argues that this approach is questionable and open to legal challenges, stating that the regulation of the health system is the responsibility of the Health Minister.

"The block exemption basically has no future, it needs to be abandoned due to legal and governance weaknesses. It is basically nonsense. The implementation of the Health Market Inquiry recommendations needs to be pursued. The stability of the health system requires that the government focus on the Health Market Inquiry recommendations holistically not in a piecemeal manner, and not in a manipulative manner because it is unclear why this exemption framework was even considered in the first place when somebody is confronted with a major health inquiry report which has not been responded to since 2019," Van den Heever stated.

--SABC/ChannelAfrica--