Former minister heads up new health care cooperative

Author: Fin24

MediCoop CFI, the financial cooperative that provides banking services exclusively to members in the health care sector, has appointment Theuns Botha as its managing director.

Adv. Barney Esterhuyzen, chairperson of the MediCoop CFI, announced that Botha, former Western Cape minister of health, will take the helm of this institution.

MediCoop CFI was established in 2016 as a deposit taking institution and is head quartered in Cape Town, with branch offices in Port Elizabeth and Pretoria servicing a national member/client base exclusively in the health care sector.

At the time of the announcement, Esterhuyzen said: “The vision for MediCoop CFI is to be the leading cooperative bank for the health care sector in Africa. With the appointment of Theuns Botha as managing director, we are investing in a person that has a credible track record and substantial network in the sector.”
 
MediCoop CFI is a member-driven bank. Membership is limited to health care professionals, health care workers, medical industry stakeholders and related parties. Qualifying members are required to acquire a mandatory minimum of 1 000 shares at R1 per share. In order to ensure that the cooperative remains the property of its members, no entity or individual may own more than 15% of the bank.
 
MediCoop CFI is regulated under The Co-operatives Bank Act by the Supervisor of Co-operative Banks, the Co-operative Bank Development Agency, National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank. MediCoop is also registered with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) as credit provider and with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).

Botha said it is their aim to eventually provide members with a comprehensive range of financial banking products as well as auxiliary services and products.

“The general provision of financial services for medical professionals is not industry specific orientated and yet as a sector, it represents a major share in the economy. This creates a huge opportunity for MediCoop CFI to address this void,” he said.

Source: Fin24