JOHANNESBURG. — A Gauteng TikTokker, who’s known to his followers as Dr Matthew Lani, is in hot water with the police after the provincial health department opened a criminal case against him for impersonating a medical doctor.
The real Dr Zingelwa opened a case of identity fraud.
Lani is known for the medical advice he shares on TikTok, where he claims to be a Wits Medical School graduate and the “youngest” doctor to own a “pharmaceutical company in South Africa”.
“Lani managed to weave his way into the system, pretending to be in the employ of Helen Joseph Hospital, where he moved around.”
The department said Lani had stolen the identity of a second-year medical intern at Tembisa Tertiary Hospital, Dr Sanele Sobani Vambani Zingelwa.
The SA Health Professions Council has already confirmed the arrest of over 120 individuals posing as doctors in an extensive crackdown on fraudulent medical practices.
The arrest of the 124 bogus doctors from different provinces in the country occurred over three years through an ongoing campaign by the HPCSA and the police.
The HPCSA’s Christopher Tsatsawane added that practising without registration with the council was a criminal offence.
He said:
“The HPCSA will work with law enforcement agencies to respond to the increasing number of bogus practitioners as their behaviour puts the health of the public at risk.
“The University of the Witwatersrand also distanced itself from Lani, calling on him to retract any and all references he made to the university.
“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. We are requesting ‘Dr Matthew Lani’ to retract any such claim with immediate effect.”
Lani claimed that the HPCSA asked him to clarify that “Lani” was not his legal surname but a social media handle. – New24