To download the soundbite of the Chairperson of SCOPA, Mr Songezo Zibi click here: https://iono.fm/e/1477470
Parliament, Wednesday, 4 September 2024 – The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) calls for strong systems and internal controls to be established in the departments of Health and Justice to protect the state, particularly state healthcare centres and vulnerable patients, against the actions of fraudulent law firms. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) informed SCOPA that it has prevented a potential loss to the state of R3 billion in fraudulent medico-legal claims.
The committee today received a briefing from the SIU on the medico-legal investigations it is undertaking in the provincial departments of health in all nine provinces. The SIU told the committee that the claims under investigation include the targeting of families with children born with cerebral palsy, false claims of medical malpractice in state hospitals and collusion between state healthcare workers and rogue lawyers to unlawfully secure private medical records in order to initiate claims against the government. In some cases, agents of rogue law firms impersonate officials of the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to secure power of attorney on behalf of victims while claiming to be securing them social grants.
“Clearly systemic interventions are necessary to reduce the likelihood of fraudulent claims being initiated, to begin with, or to be successful. There are instances where the plaintiff has passed on, and yet a claim proceeds on the basis of loss of future income. In other cases, the same claim is simultaneously lodged in two different divisions of the High Court without anyone noticing. A due diligence checklist in the Department of Health and the Office of the State Attorney may eliminate some of these claims early, reducing legal costs and contingent liabilities,” said SCOPA chair, Songezo Zibi.
The SIU also briefed the committee about several issues that cut across all provinces. These include the embezzlement of payouts and or trust funds; lack of electronic case-line systems; lack of capacity at the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund to investigate matters speedily and re-imburse claimants. Many deserving claimants continue to live in poverty.
SCOPA noted that there are many valid claims, and these must be processed properly, but the fraudulent nature of most of them is evidenced by the drastic reduction in the number of claims since the SIU began its investigation.
The committee commends the SIU’s sterling work in persistently pursuing these medico-legal cases and the culprits involved. The committee also asked the SIU to provide further information on the individuals involved in these cases.
The committee is scheduled to hold a joint meeting with the Portfolio Committee on Health and the Standing Committee on Appropriations on the medico-legal claims and investigations on 11 September 2024 with the Department of Health.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF SCOPA, MR SONGEZO ZIBI.
For media enquiries, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Ms Faith Ndenze
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8062
Cell: 081 377 0686
Email: fndenze@parliament.gov.za
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