A DA councillor in Cape Town is being probed by the party over allegedly bogus medical qualifications . Abdulkader Elyas apparently claimed on his LinkedIn bio that he was a student at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2018 and had studied for a Bachelor of Business Science in actuarial science in 2015 and 2018.
He also claimed to have been a student of the university’s medical school between 2013 and 2018, reports News24.
But UCT denied Elyas has any such qualifications, while the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA) said he is not registered as a medical professional.
The DA provincial leadership has since launched an investigation into his claims.
A fortnight ago, Elyas clinched a small victory at the party’s regional metro congress, landing a position as an additional member in the metro’s executive.
HPCSA spokesperson Christopher Tsatsawane said Elyas had initially registered as a student studying towards a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery with effect from 4 April 2013, but this “did not progress to that of a qualified medical practitioner, and the registration expired as there was no progression”.
Party insiders say Elyas was pitched up at a party selection panel in 2021 wearing scrubs, claiming to have just come from a hospital call.
Approached for comment, Elyas maintains that it is “common cause” that he was a medical student, not a medical doctor, despite claiming that he had qualified.
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