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... the third-largest medical scheme

The acting Registrar of Medical Schemes has today filed papers with the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg asking for an urgent hearing to place Bonitas Medical Fund under curatorship in terms of Section 56 of the Medical Schemes Act (Act 131 of 1998).

Should Bonitas wish to oppose our application, they have until tomorrow to notify our attorneys of their intention to do so and until Monday to file their answering affidavits.

Bonitas is the third-largest medical scheme registered in South Africa and the second-largest open medical scheme after Discovery Health Medical Scheme, its membership continuing to grow and now standing at over 600 000 beneficiaries.

The acting Registrar, Mr Craig Burton-Durham, would like to reiterate that our reasons for applying for this curatorship have to do only with the alleged governance problems at the scheme; they are not related to its financial soundness in any way.

Bonitas remains one of the best-performing schemes in the industry, its solvency ratio (reserves as a percentage of contributions) healthy at well above the 25% required by the Act.

Mr Burton-Durham has recommended that Mr Molokomme Joseph Maluleke be appointed as the curator of Bonitas. Mr Maluleke is the chairperson of a well-established law firm and has a proven track record of stabilising organisations experiencing governance problems. Should our application be successful, he is to replace the current Board of Trustees of Bonitas and take control of the affairs of the scheme until they are regularised and a new Board is appointed.

The beneficiaries of Bonitas are advised not to worry about their scheme. This curatorship is needed to protect their interests and we expect it to last a short period of time.

Brokers, in turn, are again advised to act with restraint. Any advice you give must accord with the principles of best advice, have the best interests of your clients at heart, and be based on a proper assessment of the situation.

The papers filed with the court today can be obtained from the court.