| Universal access to healthcare | Climate change | Food security |
| Social grants | Basic income grant | Tuberculosis |
| HIV | Corruption | Gender-based violence |
Here’s what the GOOD Party says about health issues.
Universal access to healthcare
GOOD’s manifesto doesn’t specifically mention health facilities or universal health coverage — for which the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) has set the ball rolling — but it does have a 10-point plan to “stop the suffering, and fix South Africa for everyone”. This, together with its commitment to upgrade “core public infrastructure, and ensure that the same, quality standard of public services are available in all communities”, suggests the party would continue along the path to universal healthcare started by the NHI Bill. In Parliament, GOOD voted to pass the NHI Bill.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Climate change
By accepting the science behind climate change, GOOD says it will take action to slow rising global temperatures and lessen the impacts of climate change, mostly by switching to renewable energy sources [for example, solar or wind power] for generating electricity and moving away from petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars.
GOOD commits to do this in a just way, which means that people who work in industries that depend on coal now must keep their jobs. The party sees the money for this coming from richer countries, whose activities have had a bigger part in causing global warming.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Food security
GOOD does not want to see anyone living in poverty or hunger. The party doesn’t say how it will fund this, but wants to ensure that everyone has access to resources like water and food.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Social grants
GOOD says “the social security system needs to be reformed and restructured” and keep up with inflation. It doesn’t specify how child support grants will be adjusted (currently R530 per month per child), but says that the state pension (from 1 April: R2 180 per month for people of 60 years and up and R2 200 per month for those 75 years of age and older should work “like a typical pension fund” (which is a long-term savings plan in which money is invested and grows over time). Money should be invested into a universal pension fund that earns interest, they say, so that more beneficiaries will be able to access the grant and receive more money.
However, GOOD sees social security as only a temporary fix and wants to help people get out of poverty — by fixing education to improve people’s skills so they can find jobs and contribute to the country’s economy. Almost a third (32.1%) of South Africans are currently unemployed. GOOD commits to creating more jobs for more people, in particular labour-intensive work in the public sector.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Basic income grant
GOOD says it would implement a basic income grant of R999 per month if voted into power to ensure that those living below the poverty line (currently in the range of R1 058 and R1 558) can meet their basic human needs, while they find work and a way out of poverty. To fund this, GOOD says it will reform some taxes, improve efficiencies, restructure government, make the public service more professional and cut out corruption.
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Tuberculosis
GOOD doesn’t specifically mention plans for dealing with HIV and tuberculosis (TB). TB is South Africa’s most deadly disease.
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HIV
GOOD doesn’t specifically mention plans for dealing with HIV and tuberculosis (TB). By the end of 2022 roughly one in eight South Africans were living with HIV.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Corruption
GOOD says it will fight corruption through ethical leadership and choosing people fit to govern. Every department in its government will put systems in place to detect and stop corruption before it happens, rolled out by anti-corruption task teams and working with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (aka the Hawks) the Financial Intelligence Centre and other anti-corruption bodies.
The party will use digital technologies like blockchain to make government tenders and contracts transparent and open to public scrutiny. Blockchain technology is a way to store data — say, tender documents in this case — in many different places instead of in a central digital location and in such a way that every new piece of info (called a block) when added to the chain can be verified as true before it’s accepted. At the moment, all calls for tenders are published publicly, eg, on treasury’s eTender portal, as are the outcome of the evaluation process and who the tender was awarded to. It’s unclear how GOOD will implement blockchain technology to make the procurement process transparent.
GOOD will give more hands and money to the NPA and Special Investigating Unit to go after corruption, while protecting, encouraging and rewarding whistle-blowers. They don’t say where the additional money for the NPA will come from
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
.Gender-based violence
GOOD sees gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide as a “scar”, which they will heal through the “societal education of young men”. They will make the police investigate domestic violence reports promptly, have social workers respond faster, and continue their “Don’t Shut Up Speak Up” campaign, so that victims can get the health and psychological support they need.
Click here to go to the elections manifesto analysis tool.
Read the full, original manifesto here.
