The Council for Medical Schemes announced on Wednesday that it had suspended five senior officials following allegations of corruption and unethical conduct reported by whistle-blowers.
In a statement, the medical schemes regulator said two executives and three senior managers had been placed on precautionary suspension with full pay after allegations of wrongdoing were received via the regulator's anonymous tip-off hotline.
The allegations include:
- collusion in the appointment of service providers;
- the irregular placement of schemes under curatorship;
- irregular spending on service providers;
- "having personal lifestyles not matched by salaries"; and
- "close and corrupt relationships" with entities that the council regulates.
"The CMS views these allegations in serious light," said the council's Registrar and Chief Executive, Dr Sipho Kabane. "Therefore, these suspensions and investigations are in line with our zero-tolerance to unethical conduct."
He said "appropriate steps" would be taken following probes into the corruption claims.
The regulator did not say when the reported wrongdoing allegedly took place, but said that certain allegations predated Kabane's appointment.