The Gauteng Department of Health and Dr. Sanele Zingelwa have taken legal action against ‘influencer doctor’ Matthew Lani.
Dr. Matthew Lani is once again in the public eye for falsely claiming that he’s a qualified medical doctor with credentials from Wits University and is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) under the name Dr. Sanele Zingelwa, which he claimed was his “legal name.”
Wits University stated on Monday that, based on the names provided to the institution, there’s no record of any individual graduating with the names Matthew Bongani Zingelwa or Sanele Zingelwa in recent years.
“We are requesting ‘Dr Matthew Lani’ to retract any such claim with immediate effect,” said the university.
Soon after, the HPCSA has also officially confirmed that there are no records of a “Mr. Matthews Zingelwa-Lani” in its registry.
“The HPCSA would also like to publicly state that the name of Matthews Zingelwa-Lani does not appear in the register of health practitioners,” said HPCSA spokesperson Christopher Tsatsawane on Monday.
The HPCSA also said it would work with law enforcement agencies to address the increasing number of “bogus practitioners,” whom it said placed public health at risk.
On Monday, the Gauteng health department filed a case of impersonation of a medical doctor at Bixton Police Station.
“Lani managed to weave his way into the system pretending to be in the employ of Helen Joseph Hospital where he moved around the hospital corridors curating content for social media,” said the department.
“Further investigations have revealed that Dr Sanele Zingelwa, the name which the Lani claims is his real name belongs to a second-year medical intern at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital. The real Dr Sanele Sobani Vambani Zingelwa has since opened a case of identity fraud at the Tembisa Police Station.”the Brixton Police Station.
