Andrew Stegmann

COVID-19: Make Sure Your Medical Aid, Savings, and Risk Benefits are Covered

The Covid-19 pandemic has placed additional financial pressure on South Africans. If you are being retrenched or having your hours cut, you might be pondering your options on pausing or cancelling retirement fund or medical aid payments.

Pension and provident fund payments

Pension and provident contributions shouldn’t be stopped as long as you are paid an income, as they are based on your salary. If you are not receiving a salary, then no contributions will be deducted and the lockdown shouldn’t affect your contributions. If your salary is reduced during the lockdown, your contributions will also be less because they are a percentage of your salary.

Even if contribution rates can be changed on a fund, this can usually only happen once a year, or as set out in the rules of your retirement fund.

Retirement annuity payments

With regard to retirement annuities (RAs), older policies could have a penalty when you make your policy paid up, as it recoups upfront advice and set-up costs over the period of your policy. New-generation RAs are more flexible normally, as the broker is only paid as and when and it is likely that you can stop the premium without incurring penalties and then just restart the contributions once your cash flow is better. You can’t access the RAs accumulated values until retirement age.

Risk insurance policies for death and disability cover

Your risk insurance policies covering death, disability and other associated benefits are important to maintain during this time. If you are experiencing financial difficulties in funding this cover, chat to your financial adviser to help with discussions with your underwriter to determine if they have any temporary relief strategies in place during this time. This cover is essential for you and your dependents in the event of claim.

Medical aid payments

Covid-19 is a prescribed minimum benefit, and while it is understandable that many medical aid members will consider cancelling their medical scheme membership as a result of financial pressure from Covid-19, they will be able to access private healthcare should they require hospitalisation because of the virus.

Recently the Council of Medical Schemes issued a circular to confirm that all schemes are to regard Covid-19 as a prescribed minimum benefit and pay for the diagnosis and treatment of this condition in full as required by the Medical Schemes Act irrespective of plan type or option. This is to include the costs of all consultations, diagnostic tests, appropriate medication and hospitalization.

  • Buying down
  • Reducing the number of dependents
  • Consider the consequences of cancelling your membership.

For information about COVID-19 in South Africa, visit the Department of Health’s website here, and for general COVID-19 information, visit the WHO’s website here.

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].



Andrew Stegmann

New Regulations as South Africa Waits for Updated Lock-down Plan

Government has published a number of new and revised regulations as the country waits to hear its plan around lifting the five-week-long countrywide lockdown.

President Cyril Ramaphosa met with his cabinet on Monday (20 April) to finalise a set of measures to respond to the impact of the lockdown as well as plans for the country once the lockdown is lifted.

While cabinet is expected to make a statement on its new plan on Tuesday, a number of government departments have continued to introduce new lockdown regulations  –  with some proving to be more controversial than others.

Below are some of the new regulations announced over the last week.

Ban on ‘hot foods’ 

Arguably the most controversial new change was published on Monday and prohibited a ban on the sale of all ‘hot foods’ by essential retailers.

The directive was effectively only a line long and included no other changes, giving the impression that the government has gone out of its way to introduce this specific ban.

There is still no official explanation as to why the government has banned the sale of such food. Business group Sakeliga has indicated that it will challenge the new amendment, slamming the ‘arbitrary’ introduction of regulations by the government.

“If something is not done immediately, even entirely legal, essential businesses may be unsure of their status,” it said.

“We would like to see a more nuanced, consistent and thoughtful approach from government.

“It is important to note that South Africa’s restrictions on these businesses are far more extreme than what is warranted by the vast majority of international expertise – including recommendations by bodies such as the World Health Organisation.”

List of essential goods expanded

Higher education minister Blade Nzimande has added a number of items to the list of essential goods which may be sold during the country’s lockdown so that the country’s higher education institutions such as universities and colleges can continue to function.

Nzimande said that the transport of these goods between suppliers and higher education institutions as well as between institutions and individuals will now be declared an essential service.

The list of items include:

  • Information and Communication Technology devices (such as desktops, laptops, modems and other devices) for education purposes;
  • Gasses, liquids and chemicals used in the preservation of biological samples and maintenance of equipment and machinery;
  • Animal feed for laboratory and farm animals.

Petty criminals to be released? 

The Department of Correctional Facilities has indicated that it is considering the release of criminals who have committed ‘petty offences’ in a bid to avoid overcrowding in the country’s prisons.

The country’s lockdown regulations allow for ‘an accused person arrested for a petty offence must be released and warned to appear in court on a future date’. However, it appears that government has not utilised this provision up until this point.

Speaking to TimesLive, a correctional services spokesperson said that overcrowding in the country’s prisons continues to pose a challenge to practising physical distancing to limit the impact of the coronavirus.

“Inmates detained for minor offences with a bail option (they cannot afford) are being considered for placement on warning by courts. This is an ongoing process,” the spokesperson said.

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann

South African Company Ready to Roll Out Low-cost Ventilators for the African Market

South African company EPCM Holdings has reacted quickly to the heightened demand for ventilators due to the Covid-19 outbreak. It has recently started producing its first low-cost ventilator (see prototype in the above video) units for delivery to several African countries.

EPCM is an engineering, procurement and construction company specialising in oil and gas projects in Africa and beyond.

EPCM’s co-founder and CEO, Tom Cowan, came up with the idea for the ventilator following a visit to his sister, a medical doctor, just before South Africa went into lockdown. She voiced her concern regarding the shortage of ventilators, both in South Africa and the rest of the continent.

“At that stage I wasn’t even 100% sure what a ventilator does. We talked about it and she explained it to me, and it sounded like something very similar to a gas system that we usually design,” he says.

After some internet research, Cowan came to the conclusion that designing a ventilator wasn’t “too complex”.

“About two hours after that, the first concept of a ventilator was born, and maybe two hours after that we started with some more detailed design … And it took about two, three days for us to completely understand what we wanted to build and do a few prototypes.”

The company deliberately kept the design very basic to reduce costs and ensure that it can be made from materials and machines currently available in most African countries. “The whole ventilator can be cut from a perspex plate … and then you basically have to add the electronic component to that and then it will work,” he says.

“We’ve specifically designed it to be easy to manufacture … Our design can be made from perspex, it can be made from stainless steel. If you have nothing else, you can even make it from wood.”

“The whole idea behind this was to get it rapidly manufactured. We’ve partnered with a laser cutting company in South Africa which is able to cut many of the sheets in a day, and we can just assemble,” Cowan adds.

A ventilator is a machine that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Modern ventilators are computerised microprocessor-controlled machines.

Cowan says the Covid-19 outbreak has prompted many people to design simple mechanical ventilators, but these often lack the ability to precisely control the flow of gas. “Our system is designed so that you can physically set the breaths per minute, volume per breath, maximum pressure and flow for the machine,” he explains.

Whereas modern ventilators used in top hospitals cost anything from $20,000 and upwards, EPCM’s model will go for less than $2,000.

The company started with the production of 50 units for delivery to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Ghana. Cowan says these countries have less stringent regulations around the approval of medical devices than South Africa, where EPCM is yet to receive the go-ahead for its ventilator.

“If you want to get a ventilator approved in South Africa, you need European Union approval … The regulations and the hurdles that you have to jump over to get these ventilators certified is actually the biggest concern and probably the reason why there is not a lot of innovation or new companies starting to focus on the ventilator industry.”

According to Cowan, the South African authorities are however relaxing some of their regulations in response to the Coronavirus crisis. “They have to. It is either, relax some of the regulations or have a lot of people die.”

Commenting on the effects of Covid-19 on EPCM’s core business, Cowan said while most of the company’s construction projects are currently standing still, its consulting, engineering and procurement work continues.

The company is, however, seeing an impact from the dramatic weakening of the South African rand against major currencies. The currency has weakened from R14.76/$1 on 5 February to R19.05/$1 today. “Once you have a crisis, emerging [market] currencies are all going down. I think it is important that you have US dollar-based income, which we do have. But we also have procurement with fixed-price contracts in the European, Asian and American markets, which definitely provides challenges when you have our currency fluctuating like it is now,” he explains.

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann

Our Interview with EuRA on Adapting to COVID-19 in South Africa

The European Relocation Association (EuRA) recently interviewed our MD, Rene Stegmann, remotely, to find out how we’re adapting as a business, and as individuals, to the COVID-19 situation in South Africa.

We thank EuRA for the opportunity to engage, and hope our community finds the interview informative. Feel free to view the video below.

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].