A Gqeberha-based medical doctor has been fined R120,000 and handed a suspended striking from the roll, for fraudulently issuing medical certificates required by drivers applying for professional driving permits, reports DispatchLIVE.
Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) spokesperson Simon Zwane said Dr Bongani Nqini was arrested in 2019 after an investigation by the National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit and the Health Professions Council (HPCSA). The investigation was prompted by complaints from the public. An official in the traffic unit affiliated to the RTMC, acting as an undercover agent, went to the doctor’s rooms and was given a “medical certificate certifying that he was fit to apply for a public driving permit without being subjected to the necessary physical examination.”
Disciplinary action against the doctor was initiated by the HPCSA after the sting operation. He was found guilty of five counts of contravening the Health Professions Act and fined R120,000, payable in six monthly instalments. In addition, he was suspended from practising medicine for three years, wholly suspended for a period of five years on condition that he is not found guilty of a similar offence during the period of suspension.
Zwane said the disciplinary committee found the the doctor “directly responsible for vehicle accidents on our roads” as a result of his actions. Zwane said the RTMC welcomed the verdict, though it believes the sentence could have been harsher to deter others from committing a similar offence.
R120,000 fine for doctor who signed fake certificates: RTMC (Open access)
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