By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, has mentioned that since the withdrawal of the U.S President’s Emergency Plan for Aid Relief (PEPFAR) earlier this year, South Africa’s world-leading HIV/AIDS programme will not collapse.
The National Treasury has funded the programme R753 Million, alongside global partners who have pledged R600 million in order to support treatment and research. Early this year the administration of U.S President Donald Trump had announced that they would cease all Pepfar funding, following global health cuts by Trump’s administration. A significant funding gap has been left for various countries, more specifically South Africa since the decision to halt Pepfar funding as USAID had contributed 17% towards funding HIV/AIDS response.
The Health Minister had outlined during his 2025/26 Department of Health budget, that the department had three key priorities: strengthening the public health system in preparation for National Health Insurance (NHI), eliminating key diseases such as HIV/AIDS and TB, and implementing reforms in the public health sector.
“Please remember that the public health system is utilized by 86% of South Africa’s population. Throw in the mix our neighbouring countries. If we do nothing, the demeaning scenes we see often on national tv like the pregnant women sleeping on floors and chairs will unfortunately be the order of the day. We have clear evidence of this in the Eastern Cape with repeated problems at Dora Nginza Hospital in Gqebera.” said the Health Minister during his parliament address.
The Health Minister has also stated that out of R753 million allocated by the National Treasury, R590 million will be allocated towards provincial HIV services through the District Health Programme Grant, R32 million to support national pharmaceutical supply chains, and R132 million towards the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) for health research.
The minister had also reaffirmed South Africa’s 2030 HIV elimination targets commitment, he made mention that the department launched a campaign in February in order to reach the 1.1 million people who have not received antiretroviral therapy.
The Minister had also announced that major infrastructure developments are set to take place as well improving capacity in order to grant relief to overstretched public health systems. In the 2025/26 financial year, the department aims to hire 1,200 doctors, 200 nurses as well as 250 other health professionals which amounts to an investment of R1.3 billion.
Other uses of this investment will go towards acquiring 1.4 million hospital items which include beds, linen and mattresses, alongside an additional R1.4 billion going towards hiring 27,000 community health workers which were initially contracted through NGOs.
The Health Minister has emphasised that without having a stable plan the health sector may experience the same problems Eskom is facing with loadshedding.