CMS is proceeding with its court application to have Bonitas Medical Fund placed under curatorship

The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) is proceeding with its application to have Bonitas Medical Fund placed under curatorship.

The reasons for the CMS application are clear. They have been confirmed by independent investigations and include:

1. Material irregularities exist in the governance of the scheme. Bonitas is not run as prescribed in the Medical Schemes Act (Act 131 of 1998) or in its own registered rules.
2. The Board of Trustees is neither fit nor proper to manage or control the affairs of the scheme.
3. The Board also:
a. does not appreciate the nature and extent of its duties;
b. did not discharge its functions;
c. did not act with the necessary care, diligence, and skill required by the Medical Schemes Act;
d. has failed to act when action was required;
e. has never had proper control of the scheme;
f. has been negligent;
g. has breached its fiduciary duties towards the scheme and its beneficiaries;
h. has contravened various provisions of the Medical Schemes Act as well as the rules of the scheme; and
i. has failed to protect the interests of beneficiaries.

The CMS thus remains of the opinion that the governance structure at Bonitas is fundamentally flawed and that the Board should be removed. The CMS believes it is necessary, desirable, and in the best interests of the beneficiaries of the scheme to appoint a curator at Bonitas to address the problems at the scheme and introduce good corporate governance.