CENTURION – The Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) has announced a 9.8 percent increase in medical aid contributions. This has been widely rejected by trade unions, saying GEMS is supposed to be an affordable medical scheme but over the years has become expensive.
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) said hundreds of thousands of public servants across critical and essential public services would be negatively affected by the increase.
FEDUSA president Godfrey Selematsela said this would ultimately affect service delivery and that a march against the scheduled increase is on the cards for later this month, on 21 February.
“We stand united in rejecting a contribution increase that is economically unjustifiable, socially regressive and inconsistent with the founding mandate of GEMS,” he said.