A Stellenbosch radiologist, who has been arrested and his previously respected reputation seriously dented amid a storm of criminal charges and allegations of opioid abuse, has argued that he is being targeted in a deliberate effort to smear his name, all linked to a separate civil case.
News24 reports that Dr Pieter Henning, a founder and the face of Keystone Radiology – with branches in the North West, Pretoria, Free State, Polokwane and George, and which has a commercial agreement with Mediclinic – was recently arrested for a shooting in Stellenbosch, as well as failure to safeguard his guns that police found in his cash-strewn Land Rover Defender at the scene.
A “highly intoxicated” Henning was cuffed last Friday night for discharging his gun in a public place and malicious injury to property after security was called to Techno Park, where he was found with a Glock handgun outside vacant business premises, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
He had fired a shot at the door, Ntabazalila added, and alleged he was “trying to save his girlfriend from hospital” before being detained using minimal force and pepper spray.
Video footage shows the doctor at a Somerset West medical facility earlier in the day, where he is seen opening the passenger door of his 4×4 before slinging a rifle over his arm, while people seated outside the hospital watch.
The security company that responded to the shooting at the business premises said they had received a “burglary signal” and found the front door glass damaged. Henning was disarmed by the officers, who also found that “several other rounds” were fired in the vicinity.
After Henning’s arrest by Stellenbosch police, officers discovered another two guns and more rounds of ammunition inside his vehicle.
“As the car was unattended, a docket was opened for failure to safeguard a firearm and the weapons were seized.” Photos show a dishevelled, disorientated Henning at the scene, with several R100 notes scattered in the footwell of his car.
He appeared in the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court two days later, and was released on R1 000 bail.
Henning has also previously been reported to the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), with the complainant charging that he is abusing a Schedule 6 opioid and his resultant behaviour poses a significant risk to patient safety and professional integrity.
News24 reliably learned that Henning was flagged with the statutory body for the alleged misuse of pethidine, which has a high potential for abuse and dependence. He is also accused of self-administration while on duty and immediately before performing invasive medical procedures on patients.
A witness claimed to have recently seen him in possession of pethidine ampoules at work. According to the complaint, he was suspected of injecting himself in the bathroom before seeing patients.
Henning admitted to the shooting to News24, but vehemently denied being a pethidine addict, insisting it was false information aimed at bringing his competence into question amid an ongoing family law dispute.
He said he discharged his licensed pistol the night of his arrest, but denied being intoxicated at the time, pointing out that no blood or toxicology tests had even been administered.
“I got lost and became really anxious,” claimed Henning, who had served in the SA National Defence Force as a medical officer for eight years.
He added: “It reminded me of close-quarter battle that we used to practise… the built-up buildings and everything. I don’t know (the area) Techno Park at all. I felt trapped; I tried to open the door to get in and I discharged two rounds.
According to Henning, he had been “distraught” after an incident involving his then-girlfriend at hospital earlier that night, which saw him make an “emergency” trip to the facility. This after he had had “a few drinks” – which he said was the “biggest mistake of my whole life” – although he maintained he had not been intoxicated.
Henning, a licensed firearm owner and sports shooter, was a member of the North West Combat Rifle Association and the South African Combat Rifle Association, his attorney Helene Viljoen said.
“His rifles were packed in his vehicle lawfully in preparation for a sporting event the following day. The footage (at the hospital) shows him repositioning a legally owned rifle within his vehicle before placing it back into storage,” she added, insisting he was coherent in the recording depicted.
Viljoen said there was R2 300 cash in the vehicle, an “entirely reasonable amount to withdraw and keep” before his sporting event.
“Our client does not specifically recall it being scattered, but it could have fallen to the car floor before, during or after the arrest.”
Henning said that “upon opening the door and noticing the firearm, I immediately secured it on my person, in line with firearm legislation and safety principles, requiring that a licensed firearm be kept under the owner’s personal control and safe custody at all times”.
“At no point was it pointed at anyone, displayed aggressively, or used in a confrontational manner,” he said.
He was aware of a complaint apparently being submitted against him to the HPCSA, but it had not determined that investigations or disciplinary proceedings were warranted, and he was not addicted to opioids or any substance, he insisted, supplying toxicology and hair-follicle tests from the civil case from the past four years as proof.
Henning denied self-administering pethidine at work, adding that he also did not perform any examinations or procedures without the supervision of at least one qualified sonographer.
Mediclinic said it was “aware of the allegations and has initiated the processes to consider it internally, in the appropriate manner”.
HPCSA spokesperson Priscilla Sekhonyana confirmed that “allegations of impairment” had been received against Henning, and be considered by its health committee at its meeting in January.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
GP found dead before trial sentencing
Cleared doctor back on track to reclaim his private hospital
KZN doctor negligent, liable for brain damage of man with overdose history