Only 15% of South Africans have medical aid, survey reveals

Approximately three in 20 South Africans had access to medical aid in 2024, according to the latest General Household Survey released by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) on Tuesday.

The highest medical aid coverage was in the Western Cape (25.4%) and Gauteng (21.3%), while the lowest rates were recorded in Limpopo (10%) and KwaZulu-Natal (10.2%).

ALSO READ: King Cetshwayo District preparing for NHI

The survey also revealed a sharp rise in reliance on government support. The proportion of individuals receiving social grants increased from 12.8% in 2003 to 30.9% in 2019, and surged to 40.1% in 2024.

StatsSA attributed this increase to the introduction of the special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant.

Access to basic services also showed improvement. The percentage of households with piped or tap water in their dwellings, on- or off-site, rose by 3.3 percentage points to 87.7%. Specifically, households with piped water in their dwellings increased from 40.4% to 46.4%.

The proportion of households with access to municipal water rose from 78.4% in 2004 to 79.8% in 2024, representing an increase of 6.3 million households.

Access to improved sanitation—flush toilets and ventilated pit latrines—grew from 61.7% in 2002 to 83.1% in 2024. The largest gains were seen in the Eastern Cape (56.5 percentage points), Limpopo (35.3 percentage points), and KwaZulu-Natal (26.9 percentage points).

Energy usage patterns also shifted. Households using electricity as their main source of cooking energy increased from 57.5% to 77.3%, while those relying on paraffin dropped to 2.2% (from 16.1%), and use of wood or coal decreased from 23% to 8%. Gas usage rose from 2.2% to 7.2%.

Don’t have the ZO app? Download it to your Android or Apple device here:

HAVE YOUR SAY