The council, which regulates medical schemes, found Gobinca to have acted in contravention of the rules of the Medical Scheme Act, which included the scheme initiating an unauthorised 30% co-payment on all options in January and introducing a higher-than-average contribution increase.
Sizwe has 60,000 principal members and 140,000 beneficiaries.
The complaint was brought in March by Sechaba Medical Solutions, which had been administering Sizwe Medical Fund.
Relations between the two organisations soured after Gobinca terminated Sechaba's contract. Gobinca wanted to implement in-house administration as he believed the rates Sechaba charged were steep. "The council receives many complaints daily, which sometimes would favour medical schemes or members," he said.
Gobinca accused Sechaba of not acting in the interest of its members, an allegation that Sechaba denied. "Sechaba is merely interested in the tender, which was granted without a proper procurement process being followed," he said.
Gobinca said he would step down as the scheme's curator after a month, but the damage caused to the Sizwe brand will linger on for years. He questioned why Sechaba had only complained to the council after its tender was cancelled.
Sechaba chief executive Grant Newton said he believed the registrar's rulings place Gobinca as "unfit and improper" to run Sizwe. "Sechaba is currently considering its rights with a view to approaching the high court for appropriate relief," he said.
Newton said it was unfortunate the situation had deteriorated, but Sechaba was concerned that the members' interests have been seriously compromised.
Source: Sowetan via I-Net Bridge
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