By Daanyaal Matthews
Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, has appealed to those engaging in fraudulent medical legal claims by allotting for a two-week grace period to rescind their applications and return money attained through fraudulent claims. This follows a press briefing wherein the Minister discussed the details of the findings of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), with the Minister arguing that his Department was targeted by fraudsters following the Road Accident Fund updating its system, with the Minister stating that most cases were falsified cerebral palsy claims.
The Organization Undoing Tax Abuse has supported the Minister following the press conference with CEO of the Organization, Wayne Duvenage, arguing that while the notion of full amnesty to those abusing the system was not something the organization was necessarily for, it would be a good step towards curtailing the issue of corruption.
“This issue of amnesty has a number of avenues that I think if we explore might have a positive outcome for us fighting this massive uphill challenge, which is corruption in this country,” said Duvenage.
The idea of amnesty for those that come forward and return the money has some benefits, as it allows for those who have engaged in this criminal activity to both assist the Department while making it clear to the Department what firms have abused the system to illicitly benefit. For Duvenage, the opportunity of amnesty will also reveal the firms that have abused the practice while allotting for blacklisting in the future, stating:
“Now suddenly your law firm going forward will be flagged every single time, and we will know what you’ve done historically, which you have to payback; otherwise, we are not going to give you amnesty; we are going to come after you.”
The true issue for the Department moving forward will be to fix the leaks in the system to ensure that these claims are not abused. Duvenage argued this will be the true test for Minister Motsoaledi and his Department and suggested digitizing the system but stressed that maintaining these proposed systems is essential.
“It can be developed with business giving a lot of support and insight, but we believe that very often when the government has these systems and they’ve had them for mining when it’s left in the hands purely of the government to maintain and keep the system working, they collapse as government officials move. We need the special purpose vehicles that are setup between business, civil society, and government to make sure whatever system is put into place, be it home affairs or these medical systems, that there is strong oversight from multi-parties that we don’t drop the ball because these systems are going to be crucial in efficient running of the country going forward,” argued Duvenage.
