The South African Medical Association (SAMA) SA is being supported by the EFF in its calls for cardiologist Dr Wouter Basson to be removed from the medical register, and is appealing for a “just outcome” in the Health Professions Council of SA’s renewed proceedings against the doctor.
Basson, who has launched a court application for a permanent stay of proceedings – citing an unreasonable delay of 20 years in the HPCSA’s action against him – has argued that he was acting as a soldier in the then-SA Defence Force, not as a medical doctor, in his role in Project Coast, the apartheid government’s secret chemical and biological warfare programme of which he was the head.
The EFF has questioned why Basson has not yet faced any consequences for his actions, while SAMA chairperson Dr Mzulungile Nodikida says that “accountability in medicine is not subject to expiry”.
“Medical ethics apply in all contexts, including military service, and Dr Basson’s actions were inconsistent with the duties of a medical professional.”
Basson contended the allegations of unprofessional conduct were filed with the health professions watchdog in 2000 and 2001, two decades after his involvement with Project Coast. The complainants were uninvolved and “without any personal knowledge of the alleged conduct”.
At the time, he was also facing criminal prosecution, which ended with his acquittal in 2002, reports News24.
The HPCSA charged him in 2007. In 2014, he was found guilty of unprofessional conduct.
The professional conduct inquiry ruled that Basson contravened international protocols and conventions. It also concluded that he had confused the ethics of a doctor with those of a soldier, arguing that a doctor could not rely on military orders to escape the consequences of his duties.
Yet the HPCSA’s triumph at the verdict was short-lived.
Basson, after a mammoth legal battle that ended in the Gauteng High Court, was eventually successful in his application in 2019 for the recusal of two “biased” committee members who tried him.
In its responding papers, the HPCSA said it had been corresponding with Basson’s attorneys since 2020 regarding the recusal and the convening of a new committee to deal with the inquiry.
Nodikida told News24 SAMA’s position on Basson remained unchanged. “We support his removal from the medical register. Upholding the integrity of the profession … SAMA, therefore, supports the HPCSA’s renewed proceedings and calls for a just outcome.”
The EFF demanded that Basson should be immediately suspended from practicing, pending the outcome of the inquiry, saying that he had yet to face “meaningful consequences for his actions”.
Allowing him to continue treating patients while his matter was unresolved undermined public trust in the profession and the regulatory bodies tasked with upholding its integrity, the party argued
In a parliamentary question to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, EFF MP Carl Niehaus recently asked why the HPCSA had not prioritised reinstating disciplinary proceedings against Basson.
Motsoaledi said matter was set to be heard before a new committee on 19 and 20 September 2024. It was later postponed to 5 December, but it could not proceed on this date as Basson’s lawyers were awaiting an appointment by the state attorney.
He said preliminary discussions were held between the parties on 7 February this year, where Basson’s legal team informed the HPCSA lawyers of their intent to launch the High Court application for the permanent stay of proceedings.
Basson was supposed to plead to the charges on 11 April but had launched his court application two days earlier.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Wouter Basson accuses HPCSA of ‘persecution’
Concourt rejects HPCSA appeal over Wouter Basson
HPCSA will take yet another try at a disciplinary hearing into Basson