"IF you go ahead with your plans for National Health Insurance (NHI), you are going to get a huge fight in court!"
That was a warning to the government from the Institute of Race Relations and Solidarity.
"We realised from the beginning that NHI would likely be tested in court," said Solidarity chief executive Dirk Hermann.
"The government plans to capture healthcare are unaffordable and unimplementable.
"They will lead to a mass departure of health workers from the country," he said.
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The organisation has already instructed its legal team to begin preparations for a court case.
Hermann said the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) has conducted extensive research in the medical sector and found that the adoption and implementation of the NHI will lead to an exodus of medical professionals from the country.
"The government has already failed with the public health system and now it wants to fail on an even larger scale. It has a history of failure when it comes to state-owned enterprises, and there is no reason to believe that the proposed NHI would not cause serious harm to South Africans.
"We can not trust the government and we can not hand over our medical professionals to them and put our health in their hands. This is going to be a major court battle," Hermann said.
The NHI Bill aims to give all South Africans access to free public and private health care. The National Assembly passed the bill on Tuesday, 14 June.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said the Bill will bring important reforms to the health sector.
He said the goal is to build an equitable, accessible, affordable and strengthened health system in the country.
"People in South Africa will have access to the same clinic or hospital, public or private, closer to where they live or work, without paying for it - the government will pay for it," said the minister.
"The NHI is a fund from which the government will buy healthcare services for South Africans from public and private providers."
Phaahla said taxpayers will contribute to this fund through taxes and special contributions, depending on what they can afford.
"It will ensure that everyone is entitled to free health care when they need it and that no fees are charged at facilities because the fund will cover the cost of care," he said.
According to the IRR, the NHI will destroy the South African health care system.
"Through the NHI, the government wants to expropriate your medical aid fund and nationalise private hospitals and doctors," the institute added.
