Students accused of shuttle arson get bail
the certificates being presented by their employees.
“The aim is to reduce the demand for fraudulent medical certificates. If employers are made aware of the names on the fraudulent medical certificates then their employees will find it difficult to get away with presenting these fake certificates,” Sekhoyana said.
Since January the HPCSA’s Inspectorate Office in the Western Cape has received 30 complaints from employers who had been presented with certificates bearing the names of the “doctors” on the list.
“The HPCSA is requesting the public that they be vigilant and report all suspicious incidents of medical certificates as well as bogus practitioners,” she said.
While some would applaud the HPCSA for rooting out fraud, the South African Medical Association has slammed the HPCSA for not acting fast enough to arrest them.
“It is a criminal offence, the police should arrest them,” SAMA’s chairperson Mark Sonderup said. He also accused the HPCSA of being party to the crime.
Last month authorities arrested eight practitioners in Johannesburg who were found to be illegally operating during a raid at a medical centre. FIVE Cape Peninsula University of Technology students, who allegedly torched a shuttle at the university last week were granted bail in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.
Ayakha Magxothwa, Bongikhaya Bushula, Vuyolwethu Thwala, Sipho Mgqawuli and Likhaya Nyamanda are all charged with arson, intimidation and public violence.
The investigating officer, Captain Ian van Ramburgh, testified that on October 23, a security guard at the E-learning building near the parking lot reported that around eight students tried to gain access into the building. Soon after the security guard requested backup, a group of students came back holding bricks.
“They approached the shuttle driver and allegedly threatened him to get out of the vehicle,” Van Ramburgh testified. The students told him: ‘We will burn you and your family’,” he testified. Then one of the students allegedly threw “something” into the shuttle, torching it. The damage cost an estimated R1.1 million.
Ramburgh said currently there were 32 cases relating to vandalism, arson and illegal gatherings at CPUT. He added that a petition by the shuttle service operators had been filed, objecting to the students getting bail. “They have cited that it’s a matter of public safety and property risk,” he said.
The magistrate granted each of the students R2 000 bail with conditions. They are barred from attending any student activities or gatherings, or contacting any students at the university.
Meanwhile hundreds of students missed classes and were joined by management and lecturers from the University of Cape Town outside the Memorial Hall, to determine the institution’s view on issues such as free education, fee increments and financial exclusion.
A memorandum of demands was handed to Vice-Chancellor Max Price.
Addressing the students, he said: “The security have to be on campus as exams have started and we have seen them being disrupted. They are only here to protect the students and the infrastructure. Sadly we don’t have financial aid for international students, but are looking into it.”