Sizwe curator in battle with administrator

Sechaba Medical Solutions, the administrator of Sizwe Medical Fund, is considering legal action against the scheme after its curator gave it four months’ notice that its contract with the scheme will be reviewed.

According to a statement from Sechaba, notice was sent to it hours after the curator, Ngubekhaya Gobinca, walked out of an annual general meeting at which members of the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) objected to his chairing the meeting.

Numsa members had previously called for Gobinca’s suspension.

Sechaba says Gobinca has openly stated that he believes the scheme should be self-administered, but Sechaba questions whether this will save costs and not prejudice the scheme’s about 60 000 members.

Sizwe is the only medical scheme Sechaba administers.

Sechaba’s statement says it is of the view that Gobinca is not fit to be the curator because the Council for Medical Schemes found his decision to increase contributions for 2013 by more than the consumer price index (CPI) plus three percent, without informing members, to be negligent as it contravened the scheme’s rules and the Medical Schemes Act.

The council, however, told Personal Finance that the decision contravened the rules but not the Act and “had no bearing on the tenure of curatorship”.

It said decisions to increase contributions by more than CPI plus three percent have been made since 2010 without members being informed, and when the curator took over in September last year, the increases were already prepared and he could not have delayed the submission of contribution increases to the council for approval without jeopardising Sizwe. – Laura du Preez