Limpopo's Provincial Coronavirus Command Council (PCCC) has accused some teachers of submitting fake doctor's certificates, on their vulnerability to COVID-19 because of comorbidities, to avoid returning to work on 6 July. According to a News24 report, the council said education authorities had received more than 700 applications from teachers to be exempt from attending school due to comorbidities, but only 400 had been granted. It said they were still seeing suspicious medical certificates being provided with applications "from a certain section of doctors".
When asked for more clarity, Premier Stan Mathabatha's spokesperson Kenny Mathivha said: "The Limpopo Health Department, with the assistance of police, is investigating as it is believed that some of the doctors and the medical certificates are fake.
However, the report says, the Professional Educators Union (PEU) has dismissed the accusations. PEU's provincial secretary Mosadi Sekwadi said authorities were trying to force teachers to break patient-doctor confidentiality.
[link url="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/covid-19-teachers-using-fake-doctors-notes-to-avoid-returning-to-school-limpopo-command-council-20200628"]Full News24 report[/link]