Mr Chairperson, I have to state from the outset that I like the hon Minister and his deputy. They are my comrades. [Laughter.] But Cope is convinced that the Health Budget Vote for the 2009-10 financial year does not address the following.
There is no programme to ensure that hospitals and clinics are managed by qualified, skilled, efficient and effective managers. The hon Minister should conduct a skills audit to ensure that these institutions are properly managed. But it is clear that he has no intention to do so. Consequently, we must expect to still have long queues in hospitals. We must still expect dirty clinics and hospitals which are not properly staffed and without medicine. We will still hear more talk of infrastructure improvement without any implementation. We will hear more talk of the launch of some operation which sounds like a military operation, without any implementation plan.
The manner in which the Minister handled and continues to handle the OSD issue is indicative of forthcoming disasters. He is putting the lives of our people, especially the poor, at risk. The hon Minister knows that the rich can easily buy health services. Instead of implementing the agreement, he is attempting to reopen negotiations. He tells the nation that the doctors are on strike when he has locked them out. This backpedalling means that the Minister cannot be trusted to abide by the agreements he enters into.
Last month, the hon Minister informed this House that he will release a national health insurance, NHI, document within a few days. Since then, nothing has happened. We are still waiting for "some few days" to pass. These are some of the reasons why Cope does not support this Health budget. [Applause.]