26/09/2026
Headlines have been saying that Regular Force Medical Continuation Fund will stop paying healthcare treatment and medical claims from November 1st, after earlier warnings of financial collapse proved accurate. Kim Helfrich reports that the decision threatens medical cover for about 29,000 senior soldiers, retirees, disabled retirees, widows, orphans and dependants.
A work committee representing RFMCF members said โindependent actuarial evaluations confirm the fund is no longer a going concernโ. Helfrich cites the committee as saying the Department of Defence, rather than the fund itself, is in breach of guaranteed service conditions signed at enlistment, with legal action now being prepared against the department and other respondents.
The committee said years of written warnings to the Presidency, National Treasury and Defence leadership had not prevented the failure of the military medical safety net. Helfrich notes that it wants the department to guarantee payments through the SA Military Health Service reimbursement mechanism to keep beneficiary healthcare going. The fundโs financial distress had already been acknowledged by principal officer Dr Anushka Jamuna, who wrote in August that it โcontinues to operate under significant financial constraintsโ.
