 |
| Image via Linkedin |
The supposedly fraudulent doctor has broken his silence as the walls close in on troubled TikTok-famous Matthew Lani, and the organisations he claims to be linked with distance themselves from him.
Dr Matthew Lani is in serious water with the police after the provincial health department charged him with impersonating a medical practitioner. On Monday, he found himself in deep trouble after social media users questioned his supposed medical degree.
The doctor whose identity he is accused of stealing has also filed a criminal complaint. The genuine Dr Zingelwa initiated an identity fraud investigation.
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) expressed concern in a separate statement about a video by Matthew Zingelwa-Lani.
It said unequivocally that no authorisation was granted for remarks to be made on its behalf.
It further stated that the name Matthew Zingelwa-Lani did not exist in the country's health practitioner registry.
According to Christopher Tsatsawane of the HPCSA, practising without registration with the council is a criminal violation.
Lani is well-known for his medical advice on TikTok, where he claims to be a Wits Medical School graduate and the "youngest" doctor in South Africa to operate a "pharmaceutical company."
The University of the Witwatersrand (where he claimed to have graduated), the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) - the country's regulation of healthcare professionals - the Department of Health (his employment), and others have all distanced themselves.
Breaking his silence in a brief video shared on social media, he criticised the media and others for not reaching out to him.
However, when News24 contacted him, his phone went straight to voicemail.
"They ran with what Twitter was saying, and what frustrates me in reading this is that these people are not using my real name," he said. "I literally had to email HPCSA and tell them that this is my TikTok handle, and this is my legal name, and this is my ID number, and this is everything.
Lani addressed claims about him being a phoney doctor for the first time in a video in December of last year, according to social media. Soon after, he shifted the focus of his material, which led to him disclosing more information about himself and his school history.
Before his contentious narrative climaxed on Monday, when the institutions he claimed to be linked with answered the burning concerns from social media users, there was growing interest in his credentials when he revealed that he skipped grades 4, 6, and 8.
The University of the Witwatersrand was the first to separate itself from Lani, claiming that no one with the identities supplied had graduated.
Based on the names presented to the institution and the facts on hand, the university cannot find any person who graduated by the name of Matthew Bongani Zingelwa or Sanele Zingelwa in recent years.
Next to deny affiliation with Lani was the HPCSA, saying his name did not appear on the country's health practitioners register. The HPCSA added that any person who was not registered but pretended to be would be guilty of an offence and, on conviction, be liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both a fine and such imprisonment.
Dr Matthew responded to this and said:
Zingelwa is my legal surname. So, don't go to the HPSCA database and put in [the] Lani surname, which I have said before, is not my surname, and when you don't find results, you get excited. You get excited because you want to get me down, you report to the HPCSA, and they call me and confirm my things.
Soon after, the Gauteng health department opened a case against the bogus doctor, who pretended to be in the employ of Helen Joseph Hospital at the Brixton police station. A case of identity fraud was also opened against Lani by Dr Sanele Zingelwa, a second-year medical intern at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital, whom Lani pretended to be.
The department said:
The opening of a criminal case against Lani is in line with the Health Professions Act, Act No. 56 of 1974 as amended, which states that practising whilst not registered with the HPCSA is a criminal offence and that any person who uses any name or title, description or symbol indicating or calculated to lead a person to infer that they are the holder of any qualification of which they are not, shall be guilty.
Last to deny affiliation with Lani was the Cambridge International College, where the bogus doctor claimed he obtained a high school diploma.
It has come to the attention of Cambridge International College that claims are circulating regarding Mr Matthew Zingelwa-Lani's affiliation with our institution. We wish to categorically state that Mr Matthew Zingelwa-Lani has never been enrolled at Cambridge International College, and his name does not appear in our official registers for any period.
Nevertheless, Matthew Lani is amongst some people who have done fraudulent activities to make ends meet.
The lack of equitable and equal opportunities has seen the rise of fraudulent professionals. South Africa's Health Professions Council (HPCSA) has arrested over 120 people impersonating physicians in a crackdown on fraudulent medical practices. The council's spokesperson, Christopher Tsatsawane, confirmed that these arrests were made over three years due to an ongoing effort by the HPCSA and the police. The campaign aims to crack down on unauthorised physicians in the nation. Health Minister Joe Phaahla confirmed that searches performed in locations frequently associated with medical practices aided tremendously in apprehending these impostors.
Fake physicians often work in the private sector, where monetary payments can be accepted quietly. Operating in the medical industry without the necessary approvals from the HPCSA is illegal, and failure to register and practise without authorisation constitutes a criminal offence. In 2014, the council established an inspectorate office as a compliance enforcement unit to enforce compliance through conducting inspections of registered practitioners, suspected or erased practitioners and attending to complaints of illegal practice by unregistered persons (bogus practitioners).
Health Minister Joe Phaahla voiced grave worry over the growing number of fraudulent practitioners in the country and asked people to be cautious and report any strange physicians. He advised people to check the authenticity of a doctor by calling the HPCSA at 012338-9300/9301 or looking up the doctor's ID or practice number on the council's website.
The SA Medical Association's spokeswoman, Mvuyisi Mzukwa, praised the HPCSA for tackling this critical issue through the inspectorate office. She disclosed that many of these persons lack adequate medical training or have incomplete certificates. She also noted that they frequently show banners portraying themselves as physicians, such as "Doctor Cure," raising red flags for discrimination patients.
Mzukwa urged law enforcement authorities, the HPCSA, and the public to work together to identify and capture more persons engaging in fraudulent operations, protecting the welfare of South African communities.
