Prolonged Failure to Register Dependant and Withholding of Refund

Since 1 August 2025, I have been struggling to have my wife registered as a dependent on my medical aid with Bonitas. I have made numerous telephone calls to Bonitas—at my own expense—and have sent several emails in an effort to resolve the matter. However, due to the apparent incompetence of the staff and the empty promises made by members of Bonitas’s management, my wife has still not been registered as a dependent on my medical aid.

I have already paid four months’ worth of “dependent” contributions to Bonitas, given the critical importance of ensuring that my wife is registered on my medical aid. Yet I continue to encounter inefficiency, poor and unprofessional service, and a persistent unwillingness to assist me in Afrikaans, which is my preferred language.

In the meantime, Bonitas refuses to refund the amount of R11,436.00 that I have already paid. The manageress, Lynn, repeatedly deceives and misleads me on the rare occasions when I am able to reach her. It appears that management is shielded by the call-centre staff, as management has become entirely inaccessible.

Lynn undertook to call me on Monday, 24 November 2025 at 10:00. It is now Thursday (27 November 2025, and I have not received any communication from her. Each time I request the correct forms from Lynn or management to complete the process again, they send me password-protected PDF documents, for which the password is purportedly the member’s identity number or date of birth. These documents do not open with any of the passwords provided. Consequently, Bonitas continually delays the process.

It now appears that Bonitas has no intention of registering my wife as a dependent before 2026, evidently so that they may charge the increased tariffs for 2026. Furthermore, my wife would then be subjected to a three-month waiting period. What will happen if she suddenly requires medical attention? Bonitas will simply refuse it—just as they refuse to register her as my dependent.

One is compelled to ask whether Bonitas has no competent Afrikaans-speaking member on its management team who is able to assist me, or whether this too has become a matter driven by considerations of race.

The following reference numbers are applicable: Last query number (211125Q7TFVT) and reference number (191125Q7MSBS).