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The National Health Insurance (NHI), for which membership will be compulsory, is a funding scheme that aims to address healthcare inequity in South Africa. The scheme will do this by creating a fund that the government will use to buy healthcare services at set fees from accredited public and private health providers. The NHI Bill was passed in the National Assembly in June 2023. It has to go to the National Council of Provinces for approval.

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[WATCH] Starry nights over city lights: Why this doctor wants to work in rural KZN for good 

Dylan Bush

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Doctor Thulani Ngwenya is the medical manager at Bethesda Hospital, about 80 kilometres away from Ingwavuma. (Dylan Bush, Bhekisisa)
  • Doctor Thulani Ngwenya has no plans to leave his job at Bethesda Hospital near Ubombo in rural KwaZulu-Natal for a post in a city. Ngwenya grew up near the facility and he’s determined to serve his community for as long as possible. 
  • As long as he’s around, Ngwenya argues, patients can get healthcare in a language that they understand. 
  • The Umthombo Youth Development Foundation, which offers financial support and mentorship, helps to produce health workers for the country’s underserved far-flung areas. Ngwenya is one of about 500 health science graduates that the nonprofit has helped since 1999. Get to know this rural doctor better with our reporter Dylan Bush.

Dylan Bush is Bhekisisa's production and multimedia manager.

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