Lesbian and gay employees were often not allowed to register their same-sex partners on their medical aid schemes, and many companies still exclude same-sex partners from their schemes. The Medical Schemes Act says it is against the law for medical aid schemes to refuse to register a same-sex partner.

Case Study:

Langemaat v Minister of Safety and Security (1998)

In Langemaat v Minister of Safety and Security (1998), a lesbian who worked for the police wanted to add her partner to her medical aid as a dependant, but was not allowed to because the medical aid scheme did not include same-sex partners as dependants.

The High Court said that this was discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.