Health lawsuits cost R7m

The Health Department has been involved in 32 court cases over the past five years. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang confirmed this yesterday.

Replying to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance's Ryan Coetzee, she said she was in no position to determine the cost to the South African taxpayer, as this included costs of the judicial system that fell under the Justice Ministry.

However, legal costs billed to the department by the office of the state attorney totalled about R7,46-million, she said. Several cases were still pending.

This included the Netcare, New Clicks and the Pharmaceutical Society of SA cases on price regulation. The Treatment Action Campaign's constitutional case against the minister and MECs over the failure to provide Nevirapine cost R4,4-million in legal fees.