The public sector is financed through general taxation and equals 48.37% of the total health expenditure being funded by the State (StatsSA, 2012), serving 84% of the population (Mahlathi & Dlamini, 2015). The private sector is funded by voluntary medical aid membership (66%) and out-of-pocket payments (29.7%) (EMERALD, 2017) and comprises about 51.63% of the country’s total health expenditure (StatsSA, 2012), serving only 16% of the population (Mahlathi & Dlamini, 2015). Approximately 8.5% of GDP is spent on health, whereby 4.1% is spent by the public sector on 84% of the population and 4.4% spent by the private sector on 16% of the population (Fusheini & Eyles, 2016).

References:

EMERALD. (2017). Moving towards Universal Health Coverage for Mental Disorders in South Africa.

Fusheini, A., & Eyles, J. (2016). Achieving universal health coverage in South Africa through a district health system approach: conflicting ideologies of health care provision. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-016-1797-4

Mahlathi, P., & Dlamini, J. (2015). MINIMUM DATA SETS FOR HUMAN RESOURCES FOR HEALTH AND THE SURGICAL WORKFORCE IN SOUTH AFRICA’S HEALTH SYSTEM: A rapid analysis of stock and migration. Available from: http://www.prographic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/0316-south-africa-case-studies-web.pdf

StatsSA. (2012). South Africa Health expenditure: Total vs Private – South Africa Data Portal. South Africa Data Portal. Available from: http://southafrica.opendataforafrica.org/rtwhibg/south-africa-health-expenditure-total-vs-private