The North Gauteng High Court has ruled against the statutory Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), which had sought to stop Netcare and Discovery Health from selling prepaid doctor consultation vouchers to people who can’t afford medical aid.
Both companies have argued that the vouchers represent an innovative way to increase access to private healthcare for millions of South Africans who cannot afford medical aid.
The vouchers were launched in 2020 – prompting the CMS to tell both companies to halt the initiative, as it had not been approved. NetcarePlus and Discovery Health both appealed the directive in an internal CMS process.
However, News24 reports, as the process unfolded, the CMS and the Registrar for Medical Schemes approached the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in July 2022 to ask for an order restraining the companies from selling their prepaid vouchers.
In a ruling last month, Judge Mandlenkosi Motha said: ‘This court must decline the invitation to usurp the administration function of an organ of state. The applicants have failed to make out a case for exemption and their application is flawed. The matter must proceed before [an internal]… appeal and these applications must be dismissed.’
News24 reports that the judge also made a punitive cost order against the CMS and its registrar, citing ubuntu as a guiding principle. Judge Motha is quoted as arguing: ‘Where is ubuntu when an organ of state puts parties, whose only sin was to comply with the law, through costly legal action [?]. I do not see the reason why the respondent should be out of pocket. In exercising my true discretion, informed by the values of ubuntu and weighing up all the facts, I am persuaded a punitive costs order is justified.’