The Gauteng Health Department has laid criminal charges against the bogus TikTok doctor Matthew Lani.
This comes after Lani, whose legal name is Matthew Zingelwa piqued social media interest by claiming that he had graduated from Wits University as the youngest doctor in the country.
He has been 'misleading' his nearly 300 000 followers by appearing in his videos with a stethoscope around his neck and dispensing medical advice. He also claims to have skipped grades 4,6 and 8 and obtained a high school diploma from the University of Cambridge, in England.
Wits University and the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) have both said they have never encountered Lani.
Lani was also seen in a video that was posted on social media by the Gauteng health department, commemorating Youth Day. According to the post, Lani was a medical intern at the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg as well as an HIV/AIDS Activist.
Motalatale Modiba, spokesperson for the Department, said they opened a case of impersonating a doctor with the Brixton police station.
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"Lani managed to weave his way into the system pretending to be working at the Helen Joseph hospital where he moved around the hospital corridors curating content for social media," he said.
Investigations have also revealed that Dr Sana Zingelwa, the name Lani claims is his real name belongs to a second-year medical intern at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital. The real Dr Zingelwa has also opened a case of identity fraud with the police.
Modiba said Lani's video ended up on the Department's social media page after they ran a campaign as part of Youth Month asking young professionals to send their videos on what it means for them to be born-frees, which Lani responded to.
"At the time, there was nothing that raised suspicion that he was not an employee of Helen Joseph Hospital," he said.
Meanwhile, in October 2022, Lani posted a video complaining of non-payment as a medical intern at the hospital and this was referred to the hospital management. He later removed the video when contacted by the hospital CEO.
He also recently fabricated a story about a large number of people who had been admitted at Helen Joseph Hospital after taking a particular weight-loss pill which was also investigated and declared bogus by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority.
But, the 'bogus doctor' claimed that had produced a weight-loss tablet that he sold to his followers on TikTok, with one follower claiming to have bought the tablets a month ago.
An Algoa FM reader said they almost fell prey to the scam, while Lani's Tiktok account has since been suspended.
The Lani scandal also reminded many social media users of the now infamous 'bogus radiographer' Asisipho Mbekela, who was found guilty of fraud and forgery by the Gqeberha Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
Mbekela was doing her community service year at the Livingstone Hospital at the time of her arrest.
