Doctors should, in an ideal world, be able to claim from the Compensation Fund and be paid within 30 to 60 days.
In essence these doctors found that their claims were invariably never met. The doctors then decided to stop treating individuals who were injured at work.
Third party claimants then intervened who said they would pay the doctors directly, with a discount, allowing the injured employees to be able to get the medical services they desperately needed.
The third parties would then claim directly from the Compensation Fund and make a small profit as they had received a discounted rate on the medical invoices.
These third parties had the ability and the wherewithal and the funding to sue the Compensation Fund if the Compensation Fund did not pay them these medical costs timeously.
The third parties had been wholly successful in litigation in the past and the minister was looking for a way to stop these third parties being able to sue the Compensation Fund.
The minister came up with this devilish plan to try and ban third parties so that no one can challenge their non-payment.
The only part of the Compensation Fund that was actually working was the fact people were able to go to doctors directly, which doctors could in turn claim from the third parties.
To try and destroy the only part that works is not only sheer nastiness but also evil.
It might be useful for the minister of Employment and Labour to understand the monies in the Compensation Fund are not owned by government but owned by the employees of South Africa.
The employees of South Africa do not deserve to get this ill treatment they are getting from the Labour ministry.
In a very interesting and damning high court judgment it was ruled by the Mpumalanga High Court that the Road Accident Fund is a picture of chaos and dysfunction.
This High Court ordered the chief executive officer and the board had to pay the legal costs for an enquiry.
The court went on to say the RAF did not manage its claims and legal proceedings properly at all. This court case showed the RAF is in an absolute mess. This reflects the mess in literally dozens of government departments.
The RAF completely fell apart in the beginning of 2020 and now has clearly descended to rock bottom.
The same could be said of the Compensation Fund and the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
Unfortunately all of these funds are sponsored by the citizens of South Africa and not the government. The government is doing a fantastic job in destroying citizens’ money.
Quite frankly, I am surprised that the RAF, the UIF and the Compensation Fund have lasted this long. We all know the workforce is getting smaller and workers are getting poorer. Wages aren’t being increased in line with inflation and new jobs are not being produced.
Many more workers need to heavily rely on the various government funds and especially funds such as the Compensation Fund for injuries at work, the Unemployment Insurance Fund for loss of jobs and the RAF for any accidents which occur on the public roads.
Without these funds, our citizens are left high and dry and heavily exposed to a continued life of poverty and degradation.
It is now up to the citizens of South Africa to state they have had enough of this destruction and to realise this government has broken all the systems and does not have it within them to even think about fixing them.
* Michael Bagraim.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Do you have something on your mind; or want to comment on the big stories of the day? We would love to hear from you. Please send your letters to [email protected].
All letters to be considered for publication, must contain full names, addresses and contact details (not for publication).