The Health Department has in the last couple of months been paying off debt it owes to service providers. Some of the debt goes back to 2007.

“In the 2012/13 financial year we have set aside in excess of R1 billion to settle accrued expenses in this department. Over and above the additional resources that have been set aside for accruals, the budget allocation of the Department of Health increases from R23.3 billion in 2011/12 to R 29.3 billion in 2014/15,” explained Nkomfe.

Over R8 billion will be spent on HIV and AIDS  programmes over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework  (MTEF)  while an additional R1.1 billion has been set aside for door to door campaigns to educate people about TB as well as improving the cure rate of TB,  among others.