Resolution Health (Pty) Ltd and Another v Council for Medical Schemes and Others (37155/09) [2009] ZAGPPHC 106 (1 September 2009)

Parties

Procedural Posture

Urgent Application / Application for Interim Relief Pending Internal Appeal and Possible Review

Legal Issues

1. 1 Whether the applicants are entitled to interim relief allowing them to continue acting as administrator and managed healthcare provider pending the outcome of an internal appeal and possible review.
2. 2 Whether the applicants' temporary accreditation has lapsed and if the status quo ante should be maintained.
3. 3 Whether the applicants' conduct in providing services without accreditation was lawful and whether the respondents are estopped from enforcing statutory requirements.

Ratio Decidendi

The applicants were not entitled to interim relief because they had acted unlawfully by providing administration services without proper accreditation, in contravention of the Medical Schemes Act and its regulations. The court found that the applicants' conduct amounted to a criminal offence and that the regulatory authority cannot be estopped from enforcing statutory requirements. The principles supporting interim relief in administrative matters do not apply where the applicant is not lawfully entitled to the rights claimed and has not made out a strong prima facie case. The application was dismissed in its entirety, and the applicants and the third respondent were granted three months...

Court Disposition

Application dismissed with costs, including costs of two counsel.

Orders

• The application is dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel.
• The applicants and the third respondent are granted a period of three months from date of judgment to transfer the functions of administrator and managed health care provider to another provider or to the third respondent itself.