More on the issue of gym rebates

JOHANNES VAN DEN BERGH WRITES:

An interesting article in the Republikein of yesterday (15 June 2017, "Registrateur moet wysigings goedkeur").

I am not sure what position Mr Swart has in Namfisa, but find the way in which he tried to defend the illegality of gym rebates very interesting.

I grew up in a very conservative household and was taught one must always adhere to the laws of the country. As young man my father had a constant battle to convince me that if you exceed the speed limit while driving it is as bad as stealing from your friends.

I have provided you with a copy of a legal opinion on the legality of gym rebates and I assume the journalist had provided a copy to Namfisa when she contacted them for comments. If she has done that and their reply is what was published, I am even more astonished at the official Namfisa reply.

Considering my conservative upbringing, a sin is a sin, there are no big sins or small sins. I was also taught that if anyone benefits from something illegal, such a person is as guilty as the person who did something illegal.

As I told you before, my son is benefiting from gym rebates and I cannot get the same benefits. My son tried to convince me that only a small number of the members, and he mentioned 20 %, get gym rebates. I am even more baffled and has some questions:

1) Why does only some of the members benefit from gym rebates?

2) Why on earth does the members who do not benefit not object to the fact that they are actually subsidizing the members that do receive gym rebates?

3) I could not determine what the real financial effect of gym rebates are because it is not clearly stated in financial information. I know my son is getting N$ 300 per month, thus if 5 000 members each receive N$ 300 per month it totals to N$ 1 500 000 per month or N$18 million per year. If this is remotely close to the real situation this is a big sin and not a small sin.

4) Who, apart from a percentage of fund members, is benefiting behind the scenes? The way I see it, the "scheme" is actively promoted in Namibia, and Namfisa is prepared that it continues for another 18 months.

5) According to the legal opinion I sent you, it is illegal.

In my opinion people benefiting from an illegal activity can also be criminally prosecuted. Does this mean that the 5 000 members I used in the example can be taken to task, be judged, and could also be forced to pay back what they have received?

Maybe Namfisa has some magical powers to absolve the participating members from being prosecuted?

I was told by a friend that one fund has stopped the payment of gym rebates as from 1 June 2017.

I was told that because I am not a part of an employer group, I would not be able to continue with my medical aid fund after I turned 65 later this year. I had contacted the other medical aid funds to determine what options I have to join another medical aid fund after I turned 65 and basically asked them the following questions:

1) Can I join the fund at the age of 65 years (my wife is also 65)?

2) Do the funds pay gym rebates?

What an interesting exercise it turned out to be.

One fund told me straight that if I am not an employee of certain employers, I could not join them. No reply on the gym rebate issue.

The other funds were very evasive in their answers to join at the age of 65, very openly admitting that they pay gym rebates.

Only one fund replied that even if I am 90 years old I can still be a member. The friendly lady was very informative and I learned a lot in the short conversation we had. Also very interesting was that this fund does not pay gym rebates because according to the friendly lady they strive to be a responsible Namibian Citizen, adhering to strict rules and principles. I will definitely talk to them when I turn 65.

True to my conservative upbringing and own beliefs, I had asked my son to do the right thing and to refrain from accepting gym rebates. I think it is high time that all citizens of Namibia join forces to fight the rot of stealing, corruption and fraud that is slowly but surely starting to destroy our nation.