The paper aims to elucidate the contribution of constitutional jurisprudence to policy development by analysing the drastic changes which have occurred in South African healthcare policy since the transition to a constitutional democracy in 1994. Apartheid policies created institutionalised deficiencies in healthcare delivery for the ethnic majority, and hence the current constitution has elevated healthcare to a justiciable socio-economic right. This has allowed a rich body of constitutional jurisprudence to develop, which has directly affected the policies of the Department of Health. The paper first offers analyses of judgments of the Constitutional Court, and the government papers or legislation which were the subject of scrutiny in each case. The paper will then consider the legal policy challenges facing the new South African National Health Insurance programme (NHI), which is in the early stages of being rolled out.
Keywords: Healthcare Policy, Department of Health
