The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has raised serious concerns over the growing number of fraudulent medical practitioners. The association warns that these individuals are becoming significantly harder to detect. According to SAMA, these fraudsters use increasingly sophisticated methods to impersonate qualified professionals. Their tactics include presenting forged qualifications and falsifying registration documents. In some extreme cases, they even assume…
Tag: South African healthcare
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Bonitas Tender Dispute Puts Scheme Governance Under Spotlight
The Bonitas Tender Dispute has placed fresh scrutiny on major operational changes at South Africa’s second-largest open medical scheme. The legal matter between Medscheme and Bonitas Medical Scheme was expected to be heard this week. It has now been postponed again. At the centre of the case are four tenders. These shifted key Bonitas functions away from Medscheme and other…
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Medical Scheme Financial Pressure Escalates As Costs Soar
South Africa’s private healthcare sector is facing a severe sustainability crisis. According to a new report by Alexander Forbes Health, the medical scheme industry is trapped in a tightening financial vice. Rising provider fees, escalating utilisation, and rapid technological advances are driving up the cost of care across the board. Paresh Prema, the head of technical and actuarial consulting at…
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Life Healthcare Expansion Plans Add Beds And Specialists
Private hospital group Life Healthcare is moving forward with strategic growth initiatives. The JSE-listed company intends to expand capacity, open a new hospital, and recruit more specialists. These Life Healthcare expansion plans aim to significantly boost occupancy rates across all its medical facilities. Strategic Asset Growth And Infrastructure Investments The company will continue to grow its underlying asset base in…
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Biovac Vaccine Tender Secures Critical R5.3bn State Contract
The Biovac Institute has retained a critical contract to supply the South African state with Hexaxim. Hexaxim is the six-in-one shot provided to infants in the national childhood immunisation programme. The R5.3bn award was announced in the Department of Health’s next three-year national vaccine tender. This tender is set to begin on January 1, 2027. This contract is vital to…
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Conjoined Twins Separation Marks Historic Limpopo Breakthrough
A major surgical milestone has been recorded in Limpopo after conjoined identical twin boys were successfully separated at Mankweng Tertiary Hospital outside Polokwane. Professor Nyaweleni Tshifularo, the lead surgeon, confirmed the operation was a success. The twins were born on 28 January 2026. They were conjoined and shared a liver, intestines and blood vessels. The separation surgery took place on…
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NHI Preparations Continue Despite Legal Pause
\n\nThe NHI remains one of the most debated policy projects in South Africa. It currently faces more than twelve separate legal challenges. Recent court developments have focused on the legality of the process rather than the NHI model itself.\n\n\n\nNHI Preparations are Ongoing Despite Agreement on Act\n\n\n\nLast week, Minister Motsoaledi and President Cyril Ramaphosa reached an agreement regarding the Act. They…
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Gauteng Hospital Overcrowding: MEC Denial Sparks Backlash
Gauteng Hospital Overcrowding is one of the pressing issues facing Gauteng’s public health system and is contributing to its credibility problem. It is not only about beds, wards, or staffing. It is also about how leadership responds when patients and clinicians describe conditions that feel unsafe and undignified. This week, Gauteng health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko pushed back against claims that…
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Bogus Doctors in focus as HPCSA Warns on Rising Fraud
The Health Professions Council of South Africa HPCSA is warning that unregistered practitioners are putting lives at risk. New cases of “bogus doctors” continue to surface. “If you’re in the hands of an unqualified person, you’re as well as dead,” says. The council is responsible for registering medical doctors and other health professionals. It also investigates complaints about practitioners practising…
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Aspen Pharmacare Business Sale Sparks Investor Optimism
Aspen Pharmacare faced a turbulent 2025 marked by a severe earnings downgrade and shaken investor trust. In early 2025, Aspen announced that EBITDA for the financial year would be R2 billion below prior guidance. This surprise came just weeks after the company’s interim results, catching markets off guard and sending its share price plummeting by more than 30%. The earnings…
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Discovery Health Claims Error Triggers Outrage Over Oversight
A year-long administrative failure at Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) has sparked mounting frustration among members, as the scheme begins recovering erroneous payments from policyholders. The Discovery Health claims error, which went undetected for 12 months, has affected an estimated 16,000 members across five high-end plans. The administrator, Discovery Health, is now requesting repayment of substantial amounts, some exceeding R68,000.…
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Good NHI Governance is Crucial to Restoring Trust
If the government is serious about rebuilding public trust in the health sector, it must begin with a critical overhaul of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act’s governance framework. Good NHI governance is imperative for healthcare reform. This call for accountability echoes the loudest demand from the nation’s first national convention in August: a demand for better governance. The convention,…