Johannesburg - Ten non-profit medical schemes in South
Africa spent a total of more than R28m on salaries for trustees in 2010, The
Times reported on Wednesday.
The head of compliance and investigations at the Council for
Medical Schemes (CMS), Stephen Mmatli, said payments to trustees had increased
over the years in a "concerning" trend.
"The whole argument is that the bulk of your costs must
go to healthcare, not lining your pockets."
He told the newspaper that trustee remuneration was meant to
be a stipend rather than a salary. Trustees' salaries were contributing to
rising costs of medical aids.
Being a trustee was "now seen as a career", even
though the duties of the position meant short meetings four times a year, he
said.
A recent CMS report revealed that the council wished to
replace the entire board of two medical schemes who over-inflated trustees'
salaries, among other things.