The failure by government to present a cost estimate of the National Health Insurance (NHI) - while stating that legislation for the NHI will be tabled by April next can only mean that:

A) Given the unrealistic time frame - government is not interested in a substantive public discussion of the issues,

B) Government is hiding the true extent of the costs,

C) Government has no idea how to do the costing.

It is patently false to argue that costing would be premature due to the public participation process which may change the details of the scheme. This is because:

• A costing assists the public to assess the possible effect of the scheme: this is standard international practice.

• The basic package contained in the NHI is not intended to be affected by the public hearings.

Alternatively, the ANC government is all too aware of the fact that the scheme is not workable and would therefore do its level best to hide this from the public - while still promising universal health care. The result is clear - the ANC will not be able to keep their promise and once again disappoint the most vulnerable in society.

The third option is that the ANC government is truly incapable of performing a costing exercise. This is by no means an excuse.

The DA will be asking parliamentary questions in this regard in order to ensure that the ANC government is acting responsibly and is being held accountable for its commitments.

Joint statement by Dr Dion George, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister finance, and Mike Waters, MP, DA shadow minister of health, September 3 2009

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