A woman in the Eastern Cape who falsified her radiography qualifications was handed a sentence of 2 000 hours’ periodical imprisonment for “myriad lies and grand deception” in the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court last week.
Asisipho Mbekela (27) was found guilty on three counts of fraud and two of forgery and sentenced on World Radiography Day by Magistrate Lionel Lindoor, who said it brought him no joy to sentence her, but that the timing was ironic.
He said the offences she committed by falsifying her radiography qualification were severe enough for her to be handed the unusual sentence, The Herald reports.
Her actions had been tantamount to a systematic scheme which took a great deal of planning, Lindoor added. “(Mbekela) told myriad lies and employed grand deception to fool many people, including her own family. She had ample opportunities to desist, but continued.”
Despite overwhelming evidence against her and after being convicted, Mbekela continued to maintain innocence.
The single mother of one worked at Livingstone Hospital for six months before the deception was uncovered.
The court found she had intentionally misrepresented her qualifications when she applied for a radiography position with the Eastern Cape Department of Health.
She had been enrolled at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), but failed her final year in 2015 and did not receive a national diploma in radiography: nuclear medicine, yet had applied for a job using falsified documents, showing she had obtained her qualification in 2015.
Mbekela claimed she had been diagnosed with depression and that a change in lecturers had negatively affected her performance.
When she applied to the provincial Health Department, the department was reportedly unaware she was not qualified and offered her a position on a contract basis as a radiographer doing community service.
She assumed duties at Livingstone Hospital on 1 March 2016. When the deception was discovered on 20 September 2016, Mbekela was immediately dismissed.
Further evidence by state witnesses, accepted by Lindoor, included that many people’s lives had been at risk by Mbekela performing nuclear medical procedures.
“The services delivered were substandard, unsafe and dangerous,” Lindoor said.
He added that he had considered various forms of sentencing, including a fine, a wholly suspended sentence, direct and periodical imprisonment and correctional supervision.
He said considering the seriousness of the crimes, a suspended sentence would not be appropriate and correctional supervision would not protect the interests of the community.
In the interests of her toddler son, he found it would be more appropriate for Mbekela to serve a periodical sentence, and sentenced her to 2 000 hours, which she must spend at the East London Correctional Facility.
Mbekela was ordered to be at the centre on 17 November at 4pm, when the Department of Correctional Services would inform her what time she had to hand herself over every Friday for almost 10 months.
She would serve about 36 hours each weekend before being released on the Sunday afternoon.
The Herald PressReader article – Unusual sentence for fake radiographer (Open access)
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