Business

Biggest medical aid transfer in South Africa’s history

Luke Fraser

 ·1 Jun 2026

Momentum Health has officially taken over the administration of the Bonitas Medical Fund, significantly boosting its market share with the largest transfer of a medical aid in South Africa’s history.

Momentum took over the administration of Bonitas from Medscheme, ending a 43-year-long partnership.

With the addition of 750,000 members to its administration, Momentum’s market share in the medical scheme market has increased from 22% to 30%.

This means that Momentum is now the second-largest medical scheme administrator in South Africa, and is just behind Discovery, which still holds a market share above 50%.

“Being selected as the preferred healthcare administration partner for Bonitas Medical Fund affirms our leadership in the health administration market,” Momentum Group CEO Jeanette Marais previously said.

“It results in the biggest transfer of a medical scheme from one provider to another in the history of South Africa.”

In an operating update for the nine months ended 31 March 2026, the group said that its health team has been preparing to onboard Bonitas Medical Fund.

This would ensure that its people, processes, data and systems were aligned and ready for the 1 June commencement date.

During the 9-month period, Momentum Health saw its normalised headline earnings (NHE) grow 35% to R343 million compared to the prior period.

This was driven by growth in overall membership, favourable underwriting experience in capitation contracts, and strong expense management.

Its overall membership grew 5% year-on-year to 1.36 million, driven by sustained growth in the public segment (2%) and Health4Me (23%).

This was driven by a growing need for affordable healthcare insurance, the group said,

“Momentum Medical Scheme membership remained stable, while membership remained under pressure in the corporate segment, reflecting affordability pressures and a lower employee base,” it said.

In the Africa segment, health membership grew 14%, supported by the onboarding of a large client in Mozambique and membership gains from new groups following a competitor’s exit from Lesotho.

Momentum is booming

For the period, the group said it delivered strong financial performance, with its NHE growing 15% to R5,540 million.

NHE per share outpaced this growth, growing by 20% to 414 cents from 346 cents. This was due to share buybacks during the period.

It added that the earnings performance was underpinned by strong contributions across all of the group’s operating business units.

It added that new business activity was strong, with the Present value of new business premiums (PVNBP) supported by strong investment flows in Momentum Corporate.

There were also major corporate scheme wins in Momentum Africa and further growth in Momentum Investments’ Wealth platform.

Despite the positive sales momentum, the group’s value of new business (VNB) declined by 4% to R347 million, with the new business margin contracting to 0.5%.

The decline was mainly due to Momentum Investments, where VNB declined sharply following an industry-wide shift from life annuities to living annuities.

It said that lower bond yields made guaranteed annuity income less attractive. However, the overall decline in VNB was slightly offset by strong VNB recoveries in Momentum Retail and Momentum Life.

The shareholders’ segment reported a NHE loss of R37 million, primarily due to a large reduction in investment returns driven by poor venture capital performance and a focus on solvency over growth.