| Universal access to healthcare | Climate change | Food security |
| Social grants | Basic income grant | Tuberculosis |
| HIV | Corruption | Gender-based violence |
Here’s what the ACDP says about health issues.
Universal access to healthcare
The ACDP wants to reopen the debate on universal health coverage (which aims to give everyone access to the same basic health services, regardless of whether they can afford to pay for it). The National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill (which is the state’s plan for universal health coverage) was signed into law on 15 May, although the ACDP voted against it in the National Assembly in the earlier stages of the law-making process. The party promises to repeal what it calls the “expropriation” of private healthcare through the NHI should it be voted into power.
On health services, the party says the following:
- Mobile clinics will be “relaunched” to provide services to rural communities. (Mobile clinics have been part of national and provincial health departments’ services in various forms over the years.)
- More 24/7 healthcare facilities close to vulnerable communities will be set up. (In 2023, there were 269 community health centres in the country, which are open 24 hours a day).
- There will be more community-based primary healthcare workers to improve the tracing, early screening and treatment of patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, HIV infections and heart disease, and more doctors, nurses and administrative staff at health facilities. (South Africa has eight doctors for every 10 000 people, according to 2021 data from the World Health Organisation (WHO). This is about half the global average. By 2018, there were about 54 000 community health workers in the country.)
- Hospitals and clinics will have enough medicines and other medical supplies and the safety of health workers and emergency personnel will be improved.
On COVID-19 and pandemic responses, the ACDP’s stance is as follows:
- The party is against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations; the party supports medical help for people with vaccine injuries and will help them access the vaccine injury fund. (Only about 0.02% of the roughly 38-million COVID shots given in South Africa resulted in side effects. In total, less than 0.00001% of the doses could directly be linked to someone’s death.)
- The party promises to make ivermectin accessible to doctors for treating COVID-19 and will reject contracts with global pharmaceutical companies for buying vaccines. (Ivermectin is used to treat parasitic worm infections, but studies show that it doesn’t work against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.)
- The ACDP will ensure that the WHO’s amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) and the proposed Pandemic Treaty don’t infringe on the country’s sovereign right to determine its own public health policies, and that they are subjected to parliamentary approval, which will include a full public consultation process. (In the wake of COVID-19, leaders from around the world want to work together to create a global framework to prepare for, prevent and respond to future pandemics, so that vaccines, medicines and diagnostic tools can be available to people faster.)
On other health-related matters the ACDP says the following:
- The party promises to change laws that allow young girls to get contraceptives or an abortion without their parents’ permission. They will change the curriculum that teaches comprehensive sexuality education and gender ideology and laws that decriminalise sex work and make some forms of pornography legal, as well as those that make it illegal for parents to hit their children (in any way) as a form of discipline.
- There will be counselling and care for women with unplanned pregnancies and mental health services that will treat patients with care and respect.
- More health inspectors will be deployed to monitor small businesses selling food to make sure they handle food safely.
- Learners’ health and safety will come first when it comes to school infrastructure, nutrition and transport, and gangsterism, firearms and drugs will be banned from schools. Pit latrines will be replaced with flushing toilets. (Despite the government’s years-long plans to fit proper toilets in all schools, there are still many that don’t have such facilities yet.)
- A healthy diet and lifestyle, as well as physical exercise will be promoted.
- Infrastructure like sewage treatment plants and landfill sites will increase to keep up with housing developments in order to prevent pollution, unhygienic living conditions and environmental pollution.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Climate change
The ACDP doesn’t mention climate change in its manifesto, nor South Africa’s international commitments to slow global warming (such as, for example, the Paris Agreement; under this agreement the country pledged to work towards achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050).
The effects of climate change — a hotter Earth and more droughts and storms — will increase lung diseases, make HIV and TB spread faster, and allow diseases transmitted by insect hosts, such as malaria, to spread to countries where they’ve never been experienced before.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Food security
The ACDP promises there will be enough and affordable food for everyone, while they’ll make sure that land reform benefits people and addresses past injustices of dispossession.
- They will prioritise agricultural development and food security by protecting existing commercial farmers while at the same time helping small and emerging farmers to get finance and put their produce on the market so that they can run good businesses.
- Residents of municipal houses or land will get title deeds to protect their property rights, and the party will help during talks between authorities and communities on the ownership of tribal or trust land.
- Remaining land restitution claims will be resolved and if expropriation is necessary, they will ensure fair compensation
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Social grants
The ACDP’s manifesto doesn’t mention social grants.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Basic income grant
The ACDP’s manifesto doesn’t mention a basic income grant.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Tuberculosis
The ACDP will increase the number of community-based primary healthcare workers to improve the tracing, early screening and treatment of patients with tuberculosis (TB), cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart and other chronic diseases.
The party’s manifesto doesn’t mention any more specific plans for dealing with TB, a disease that kills more people than any other illness in South Africa.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
HIV
The ACDP will increase the number of community-based primary healthcare workers to improve the tracing, early screening and treatment of patients with HIV, tuberculosis, cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart and other chronic diseases.
The party’s manifesto doesn’t mention any more specific plans on dealing with HIV infections — despite about one in eight South Africans living with HIV by the end of 2022. About 75% of people with HIV are on antiretroviral treatment.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Corruption
The ACDP promises to set up an independent, prosecutor-driven investigation body to deal with corruption (potentially even a new Chapter 9 institution with trained staff that have secure jobs; chapter 9 institutions are independent and impartial bodies to keep our democracy safe, eg the SA Human Rights Commission and the Public Protector).
The party says they’ll approach civil courts internationally to recover the funds stolen through state capture and corruption and make sure that public officials found guilty are prosecuted quickly.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Gender-based violence
The ACDP will provide counselling and medical support for victims of gender-based violence (GBV), together with more police stations, forensic laboratories and special courts equipped for GBV cases. (A ministerial advisory task team on the adjudication of sexual offences has worked for over a decade on getting more courts to deal with sex crimes and help victims. In 2022, there were 299 courts for dealing with sexual offences. While 102 of these provided a catalogue of victim-support services, there was still a significant backlog of cases.)
Personnel will be trained and equipped better to improve investigations and prosecutions.
The party also promises more neighbourhood watches, trauma services and safe havens for GBV victims, and a review of the parole system — denying bail for certain categories of crime such as murder, rape, armed robbery and car hijacking. (Crime statistics for the 2022/23 financial year show that sexual assault and rape make up more than 90% of all reported sexual offences. Over the past 10 years, numbers have not come down much, with the total number of reported cases hovering around 52 000 per year. Almost 43 000 rapes were reported in the past year, similar to the numbers over the last decade.)
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Read the full, original manifesto here.
