The Department of Health will face Parliament on Wednesday, 23 September over its performance during the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year.
The department will brief the Portfolio Committee on Health on its first-quarter report. The meeting will also focus on progress in implementing the National Strategic Plan for HIV, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections.
The department and the South African National AIDS Council will both brief MPs on the plan. The meeting comes as the health system continues to face pressure over service delivery, staffing, medicines and access to healthcare.
The first-quarter report will give MPs an early look at how the department is performing against its targets for the new financial year. It should also show how much of its budget has been spent during the first three months of the financial year.
The committee can use the report to question the department about areas where spending or performance has fallen behind.
The HIV, TB and STI briefing is also likely to attract scrutiny. The National Strategic Plan sets out South Africa’s response to the three major public health challenges. Its implementation involves national and provincial government departments as well as other stakeholders.
The committee is expected to receive an update on progress made since the plan was adopted. The meeting comes after several health-related developments in recent months. The department has been dealing with concerns around immunisation, medicine supplies and the implementation of new HIV prevention measures. It also recently announced progress on the rollout of lenacapavir, a long-acting HIV prevention medicine.
The department said earlier this month that South Africa had made progress on implementing lenacapavir for HIV prevention. The committee meeting could therefore provide an opportunity for MPs to question officials on how these programmes are being implemented on the ground.
The briefing is scheduled for 9.30am on Wednesday. The meeting will be held virtually and will be open to the public. Any significant concerns raised by MPs over the first-quarter figures could provide further developments during the meeting.
