Does the discrimination and exclusion of traditional health practitioners in South African national health insurance foster inequality of access to health care?

In order to close the gap between public and private health care services in South Africa and ensure the realisation of the constitutional right to access to health care services (under section 27), National Health Insurance (NHI) has been introduced by the government to ensure equity and parity of access to health care services. This article provides a general overview of the NHI Bill, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of NHI and its future implementation in South Africa, and interrogates universal healthcare coverage and National Health Insurance through the lens of traditional health practitioners. Traditional health practitioners treat the majority of people in rural and urban parts of South Africa and often face discrimination when it comes to the provision of health care services.