Bonitas claims Olivers BEE accolade in health for ‘09

A growing force to be reckoned with in the medical aid industry, Bonitas Medical Fund has reinforced this notion by garnering first place in the Health, Safety & Security category of the annual Metropolitan Oliver Empowerment Awards, or, as they are fondly coined, the Olivers.

Hosted by Metropolitan and Topco Media, the Olivers serve as an industry barometer in measuring, acknowledging and celebrating the strides made by local companies in development black economic empowerment and employment equity.

Broad-based BEE is one of Metropolitan’s key business drivers and is entrenched in the organisation’s value system and the gala ceremony, now in its 8^th year, is attended by high profile business and government leaders who feel as strongly in both personal and professional capacities.

“For Bonitas, empowerment encompasses the elimination of unfair discrimination, creation of equal opportunities for all and true appreciation of the diversity this country embraces,” says Katy Caldis, business development director at Bonitas.

“It is our proactive stance in tackling economic empowerment that has earned us this accolade but we believe that transformation of this kind is an ongoing process and we will continue in our drive in the BEE spectrum.”

These accolades are awarded based on hard analysis and transparent and defensible judging criteria, which adjudicates empowerment in conjunction with corporate performance; two areas in which Bonitas has excelled.

“Bonitas is the second largest open medical scheme in South Africa and we have been delivering quality health care to local consumers for 27 years,” says Caldis. “However, we feel our responsibility to the SA public does not end with medical aid alone and we pursue corporate social investments on a broad scale.”

This includes clinics in townships and self-employment opportunities for the rural poor through the growth of indigenous and commercial trees. Bonitas also promotes healthy lifestyles through sporting sponsorships such as the 94.7 Cycle Challenge as well as the Comrades Marathon.

“We’re proud of awards of this kind, I’ll make no bones about it,” says Caldis. “We believe we’ve filled Metropolitan’s mandate in delivering sustainable BEE while showing impressive growth over the last year and we look forward to seeing how we fare over the year to come.”