The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) is challenging a Pretoria High Court decision to remove the provisional curatorship of the SA Post Office (Sapo) medical scheme, Medipos. The regulator believes the judge made a mistake and should have kept the curatorship in place.
Medipos is a small scheme only for post office employees and their families. It faced financial problems after the Post Office became insolvent and failed to pay the members’ contributions on time. By August 2021, the Post Office owed Medipos over R600 million. This debt threatened the medical benefits of its members.
In February 2023, the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) asked the court to put Medipos under provisional curatorship, citing financial collapse and poor governance. The court agreed, and Justice Ephraim Kudumela was appointed provisional curator.
However, in June 2023, the trustees of Medipos challenged the curatorship, and Judge Brenda Neukircher lifted it in July 2023. She found that the trustees had acted in the members’ best interests and ensured the board remained functional. The judge noted that Medipos was financially stable, with contributions being paid on time. She said the curatorship was unnecessary and seemed only to allow the curator to call a meeting to elect new trustees.
The CMS disagrees with this ruling and has applied to appeal, stating the judge misinterpreted the facts and law. The Post Office’s business rescue team confirmed that contributions are now being paid fully and on time, and members still receive a two-thirds subsidy from their employer. Medipos currently serves 3,800 staff members.
The Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF), representing medical schemes, criticised the CMS’s decision to appeal, calling it a waste of money. They plan to consult their legal team to address this issue in their ongoing complaint against the regulator. The BHF had previously accused the CMS of misusing power and wasting funds on unnecessary litigation.