Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Dr Matthew Lani walking with crutches in court as NPA said he can not be charged for lying.
The public outed the bogus doctor earlier this month that he is not a real medical practitioner. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) confirmed that he is not a registered doctor. The University of the Witswatersrand said Dr Matthew Lani never attended their institution, while the Gauteng Department of Health denied employing him.
Charges against fake doctor Bongani Lani ( Dr Matthew ) dropped.
“You can not be charged for lying. Lying is not an offence” says NPA spokesperson.
“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.