As the NPA stated that Dr. Matthew Lani could not be prosecuted for lying, he was shown in court using crutches.
Earlier this month, the fake doctor was exposed by the general public as a fraud. It has been confirmed by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) that he is not a licensed physician. Dr. Matthew Lani was never employed by the Gauteng Department of Health, according to the University of the Witswatersrand, and the department said he never attended.
Dr. Matthew, a phony physician, had his charges against him dropped.
“You are not subject to charges for lying. According to an NPA official, lying is not a crime.
“He was doing whatever he was doing on TikTok for entertainment — it is not impersonation and it’s not a crime,” Mabunda said, adding that the claims were baseless as no one had come forward to say Lani had prescribed any medication for them.
“The hospitals, the least they could have done was to maybe ban him going to hospitals and taking videos and, if he were to continue with that, then that would be trespassing and they would have a case against him.
“On the other hand, HPCSA [Health Professions Council of South Africa], the least they could have done was maybe to interdict him or stop him from doing those videos,” he said.
Lani was apprehended by security personnel when entering the main entrance of the Helen Joseph Hospital on Sunday night. According to the Gauteng health department, he asked to go to the toilet, where he attempted to escape through the window.
When security realised that he was trying to escape, they called for reinforcements, and Lani was captured and handed over to the police for an official arrest.
The 27-year-old influencer Lani gained attention after he began sharing medical advice and his experiences as an alleged HIV/Aids doctor with his 280 000 followers on TikTok.
But, earlier in October, his qualifications came under scrutiny when the University of Witwatersrand released a statement distancing itself from him.
“Following claims made by ‘Dr Matthew Lani’ on social media and based on the facts at hand, Wits cannot find any person who graduated by the name of Matthew Bongani Zingelwa or Sanele Zingelwa in recent years,” the university said.
Dr Lani was insistent that he was a doctor, and on Sunday, he sneaked into Helen Joseph Hospital to prove himself on TikTok. Alert security guards pounced on him and delivered him to the South African Police Service. He then appeared today at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
