Cops arrest four suspects for fraudulent activities at HPCSA

Various operations by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) have led to the arrest of four suspects.

“Through its mandate of protecting the public, the HPCSA’s Inspectorate Office continues to clean the healthcare profession through the inspections that are being carried out,” it said in a statement on Monday.

The Gauteng Inspectorate Office had conducted a joint operation with the Ekurhuleni East Cluster Crime Intelligence and Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department which led to the arrest of three suspects.

“Three suspects were arrested for fraud relating to the purchase and sale of fraudulent medical certificates under the name of Dr B Masebe. The suspects were arrested and detained at the Kwa-Thema police station,” the HPCSA said.

In another operation, the Inspectorate Office in KwaZulu-Natal together with the police’s Service Tracing Unit in Pietermaritzburg conducted an inspection at Dr SB Ngobese’s practice.

The team found a Dr Siphesihle Dube was practicing as a medical practitioner while not registered with the council.

“Dube was registered with the council as a clinical associate until he was suspended from the register in November 2018 for failure to pay his annual fees. He was arrested and detained at the Impendle police station and later released on bail,” the council said.

The HPCSA cautioned practitioners to be vigilant when employing practitioners and to verify their qualifications to ensure they were registered with it.

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