Rules and Rulings

In cases where management is of the opinion that a member has failed to make any positive attempt to reduce his debt, the member and his suppliers of services will be advised that the Society will cease to make direct payments to such suppliers resulting in the member having to pay the supplier and claim a refund from the Society.

Employees joining the Society after their employment engagement date will be subject to the rules in their entirety and therefore indemnities (sickness conditions) may be imposed.

Members may obtain medicines, without a doctor’s prescription, for self-diagnosed minor ailments from any registered pharmacy.

The maximum cost of medicine supplied to a member or dependant member is stated on Annexure “B”

The Principal Officer is authorised to write off single bad debts owing to the Society where the individual amount does not exceed R6446 for the 2021 year. This amount will be increased during November of each year, for the ensuing year, based on the average CPI rate from October of the preceding year until September of the current year.

5.1 Election Officer
The Board of Trustees shall appoint an Election Officer, which shall be the Society’s internal auditors. The control over nomination forms and the printing, numbering, distribution, receiving and counting of ballot papers shall be at the discretion of the Election Officer.

5.2 Nominations
All principal members are eligible for nomination. Nomination forms will be distributed to all members by 31 October 2024. The closing date for the submission of completed original nomination forms to the Election Officer will be 29 November 2024.

5.3 Election Principles and Ballot Process
All principal members shall receive a ballot paper and may vote for a maximum of four candidates. Ballot papers listing all the nominees together with their curriculum vitae’s will be distributed by no later than 31 January 2025. Original ballot papers must be returned to the Election Officer by no later than 30 April 2025 in the pre-addressed envelope provided or via the online voting platform for those members with email addresses.

Those candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be duly elected as Trustees following certification by the election Officer that the election processes have been procedurally correct, free and fair. In the event of a tie in the final number of votes cast, lots shall be drawn by the Principal Officer in the presence of the Election Officer to determine the final successful candidate. The candidate receiving the next highest number of votes shall automatically replace an elected Trustee, who does not complete his or her 5-year term of office, as provided for in the Rules of the Society.

Only principal members registered with the Society on 13 December 2024 will constitute the voters roll and be eligible to vote in the ensuing election.

5.4 Employer Appointed Trustees
The Employer will by no later than 30 April 2025 advise the Principal Officer in writing who the Employer appointed Trustees who will be to serve a five-year term of office commencing on 26 June 2025 as per Rule 18.2 and 18.3.

5.5 Annual General Meeting
The Election Officer shall announce the results of the election of the member nominated candidates and the names of the Employer appointed Trustees, who will all serve a five-year term of office, at the 2025 AGM to be held on 25 June 2025. The retiring trustees shall remain in office until the end of the day on which the AGM is held and the newly elected and appointed Trustees will take up office on the day after the AGM is held.

A beneficiary registered for chronic medicine benefits would only be allowed to claim the quantity of chronic medicine that had been authorised, for a calendar month’s usage on a rolling monthly cycle. Beneficiaries may also not claim more than 12 repeats per benefit year or the maximum number of monthly repeats for a shorter period of registration during a benefit year that may apply. Should the monthly or authorised period limits be exceeded, the beneficiary shall not receive any benefit for any additional supplies of medication.

However, a maximum of two month’s supply of chronic medication couriered by Dischem Direct may be provided and claimed at one time. Where a beneficiary is travelling out of the country permission may be obtained from the Society to exceed and claim for the supply of chronic medication by any designated service provider to a maximum of 4 month’s supply. This is provided that supporting travel documentation is supplied to the Society confirming the period of travel.

The Trustees approved a ruling that “pregnancy and confinements” be added to “sickness-conditions” for instances where a condition-specific waiting period may be imposed.

It was reported that this was consistent with the Council’s model Rule 8.4. The explanatory memorandum to the model rules stated: “A ‘condition-specific waiting period’ may also be imposed on benefits for pregnancy and confinements.”

The Trustees authorised management to apply the late joiner penalties in Annexure A to the Rules. The late joiner penalties are to be applied to all new adult dependants (excluding spouses and partners) joining the Society who fall within the criteria as defined in Annexure A to the Rules.

The following criteria must be complied with if a member wishes to register a dependant other than a member’s spouse, partner or a child under the age of 21 in terms of the rules of the Society.

• The dependant should not have a regular monthly income of more than twice the latest published minimum monthly wage of a Shop Assistant in the Retail Industry Area A as published by the Department of Labour. (2021/22 – R4229.22); and
• Be able to demonstrate that the dependant is reliant on monetary assistance provided by the member to the dependant to meet reasonable day-to-day living expenses; and /or
• Be able to demonstrate that the member assists in providing accommodation for the dependant.

The necessary forms to determine the above, as provided by the Society, are to be completed by the member and the dependant to collate the above information for an eligibility decision to be taken by the Benefits Co-ordinator. This information must be submitted annually, except in the case of mentally or physically disabled dependants who have provided the Society with proof of permanency of their condition. In the event that the application is declined, the member may appeal to the Principal Officer. Management is authorised to update the above value automatically in the future, when the Department of Labour publishes the minimum monthly wage of a Shop Assistant in the Retail Industry Area A in Sectoral Determination 9: Wholesale and Retail Sector.

The Principal Officer is mandated in terms of the Society’s Signing Authorities and Approval Framework Policy to agree to annual tariff and/or price increases within the agreed budget assumptions, as approved annually by the Board of Trustees, and
the Board of Trustees had resolved that the Principal Officer be mandated to agree to the following tariff and/or price increases in excess of the assumptions allowed for in the budget:

• Up to 1.0%, if the estimated monetary impact is less than an amount of R1 million; and
• Up to 0.5%, if the estimated monetary impact is more than an amount of R1 million.