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Gauteng Health to Improve Access Control and Employee Verification
The Gauteng Department of Health is set to implement stringent measures to fortify security and employee verification processes in response to a recent case of impersonation. An individual, operating under the alias ‘Dr Matthew Lani,’ deceitfully posed as a Department of Health employee and engaged in various medical activities while exploiting the social media platform TikTok as reported by Gauteng.gov.
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The department disclosed that ‘Dr Matthew Lani’ had briefly collaborated with them in June 2022, but there were no suspicions regarding his true identity at the time. In October 2022, Lani posted a video complaining about non-payment for his role as a medical intern at Helen Joseph Hospital, which triggered an investigation into his concerns. Subsequently, it was revealed that Lani had also assumed the name ‘Dr Sanele Zingelwa,’ a legitimate second-year medical intern at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital. Under this false identity, he propagated a fictitious narrative about numerous individuals supposedly admitted to Helen Joseph Hospital due to a weight-loss pill, prompting an investigation by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) that found no supporting evidence.
To address this identity theft, the real Dr Sanele Sobani Vambani Zingelwa filed a case of identity fraud with the Tembisa Police Station. The Department of Health initiated legal action against Lani on 9 October 2023 following the amended Health Professions Act, Act No. 56 of 1974. This legal action warns that practising without registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and misrepresenting qualifications are criminal offences, subject to fines, imprisonment, or both upon conviction. These proactive measures aim to safeguard the integrity of the healthcare system and protect against similar incidents in the future.
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