South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to sign into law a contentious national health bill that aims to provide universal coverage to millions of poor citizens.

The presidency said the National Health Insurance bill to give South Africans “of all races, rich or poor and legal long-term residents” access to quality healthcare, at a cost of billions of dollars, will be signed into law on Wednesday at the presidential office, in the capital, Pretoria.

The opposition parties and civil society groups wanted the bill to be referred back to parliament, saying it was flawed in its current form.