While some members of South Africa's medical fraternity and civil society advocates were cautiously optimistic about the return of Dr Aaron Motsoaledi as Minister of Health, some critics have pointed out that he had, after a 10-year stint in the position, left the public service in a worse state than he found it. He now returns to a department on its knees.

Listen to this article 9 min Listen to this article 9 min The problem with the resurrected Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, is that if you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. This is the view of Dr Aslam Dasoo from the Progressive Health Forum. He fears Motsoaledi's hammer is the National Health Insurance (NHI).

Motsoaledi is a medical doctor who held two terms as Minister of Health in former president Jacob Zuma's Cabinet before being shuffled to Home Affairs. On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he would return as the Minister of Health in the country's 7th administration.

Former health minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has been demoted to deputy minister.

Dasoo said that under Motsoaledi's watch, the country saw the biggest decline in access to health services across the board, as well as the biggest degradation in health services.

"This means that now the technically most proficient cohort in the public service, health professionals working in the state hospitals, are on their knees. It is an incredible indictment on this government that it cannot see that this moment presented an opportunity for a reset or a step change," he said.

Dasoo said while...