Dr Kgosi Letlape MP
ActionSA Member of Parliament with other members of ActionSA lodge a complaint
By Dr Kgosi Letlape MP
ActionSA Member of Parliament
ActionSA MP and Member of the Health Portfolio Committee, Dr Kgosi Letlape MP, has today lodged criminal complaints against Discovery, Medscheme and GEMS over serious allegations of fraud, intimidation, and other criminal conduct that is alleged to have persisted for several years and warrants urgent investigation.
As one of South Africa’s foremost health experts and a former leader of numerous professional medical bodies, Dr Letlape’s decision to lodge these complaints is informed by information he was exposed to during his tenure as President of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), and more specifically through his role as Chair of the Preliminary Committee of Inquiry for 5 years and Chair of the Medical and Dental Board for 6 years.
Members of ActionSA in Centurion Tshwane
During this time, he was privy to various investigations and disciplinary proceedings involving conduct by medical aid schemes that may have crossed into criminality.
ActionSA believes that laying formal criminal complaints is a critical step to enable investigators to lawfully access the relevant records, communications and case files.
These materials, which ActionSA is not in a position to obtain independently, are essential to uncovering the full extent of any wrongdoing and ensuring that those implicated are held to account, including both medical schemes and practitioners who may have engaged in criminal conduct.
Following the findings of the Section 59 Investigation, which found evidence of systemic and unfair racial discrimination by major medical schemes against black healthcare providers between 2012 and 2019, ActionSA is of the considered view that a broader investigation into the conduct of these schemes is both necessary and overdue.
The patterns of behaviour uncovered by the Section 59 Investigation, coupled with Dr Letlape’s own exposure to relevant information during his tenure, point to a deeply rooted culture of impunity that demands comprehensive criminal scrutiny.
ActionSA is hopeful that a criminal investigation will go a long way in exposing the deep-seated rot within the health sector, ensuring that criminal conduct is rooted out and that discriminatory practices which undermine the very principles of South Africa’s constitutional democracy are brought to an end.