JOHANNESBURG, July 11 -- South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said Thursday the country will forge ahead with implementing the National Health Insurance (NHI) in phases in a bid to transform the country's unequal healthcare system.

"We will have to start implementing the NHI in phases as we are already in phase 2. The rest of the building blocks of health will easily fall into place," Motsoaledi made the remarks in his budget vote speech for the 2024-2025 financial year in Parliament.

The minister said the department had been allocated more than 62.2 billion rand (about 3.46 billion U.S. dollars), a 3.5-percent increase from the previous financial year.

"There was no debate that South Africa is the most unequal society in the whole world. If you want to see what inequality means, come to the health sector in South Africa," said Motsoaledi, who noted that some are getting world-class healthcare while others are getting poor healthcare.

"Some believe that South Africa is not ready for the NHI, while others are of the view that it is very expensive and the country has no money for it; however, the country can no longer sustain such gross inequality," he said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the NHI Bill into law in May this year.

  - Xinhua