When most people think of healthcare, they think of long queues, missing files, and repeated tests. For doctors and medical aids, it’s hours of admin and costly inefficiencies. For patients, it’s the frustration of telling their story again and again because their records are scattered across multiple clinics and hospitals.
This is the reality Aflu Med Healthcare is working to change. By placing trust at the centre of digital healthcare, the company has spent more than a decade building a system that works for patients, doctors, and medical funders.
Healthcare has three main stakeholders:
Aflu Med offers a simple solution: one secure electronic record. Patients can store all their data in one place, free of charge, and share it easily with doctors. This can help practices save between 4 and 8 hours of admin every week, while audits that once caused panic can now be completed with a click.
“With health tech, it works on trust. We’ve spent 10 years building that trust, which is why our clients stay with us and refer others,” says founder Lubabalo Mnyaka.
In digital healthcare, money alone cannot buy success. Tech giants like Google and Apple have tried and failed to break into this space because trust, not technology, is the real currency.
Patients trust Aflu Med to keep their data safe and accessible. Doctors trust it to save time and reduce compliance risks. Medical aids and government trust it to deliver accurate data that prevents fraud and protects scarce resources.
It’s a trust that Aflu Med hasn’t rushed. Growth has been organic, referral-driven, and relationship-based, proving that credibility is more powerful than flashy marketing campaigns.
Behind the platform is a small but passionate team: developers, senior consultants, and interns from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). By training and mentoring young developers, Aflu Med is creating opportunities for the next generation of tech talent in South Africa.
For Mnyaka, this is about more than efficiency. It’s about building a healthier system where patients get care faster, doctors focus on healing, and people know their funds are being used wisely.
The stakes are high. The World Health Organization estimates that up to 30% of healthcare spending is wasted on inefficiencies and administrative costs. In South Africa, patients can spend up to eight hours waiting for care in public clinics. And duplication of tests drives up costs while delaying treatment.
For Aflu Med, the mission is clear: a healthcare system that is connected, efficient, and rooted in trust.
“Our story has been slow and steady, built one client at a time. But it’s a story worth telling, because digital healthcare is about more than data. It’s about people’s lives,” says Mnyaka.
Aflu Med is a participant business on the SAB Tholoana Enterprise Programme.
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About the Author
Terrena Rathanlall is the SME Media Portfolio Manager at Fetola.
