Ex-husband ‘wants revenge’

AN AUTO-electrician who is trying to derail the career of a surgeon whom he alleges had an affair with his wife before marrying her, was nothing short of vindictive and revengeful.

This is according to his ex-wife, who gave evidence before a Health Professions Council of SA hearing on Monday.

The 37-year-old woman was testifying on behalf of the doctor, who has been charged with unprofessional conduct.

The names of the parties are being withheld because of the young children involved.

“He (the ex-husband) is seeking revenge and told me that he would go to the HPCSA if I didn’t go back to him and (has) used the HPCSA as a pawn,” the woman said.

The doctor, who practises at a private hospital on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, has pleaded not guilty.

He is alleged to have lured away the woman, who has two children with her ex-husband, by buying her an expensive car and a flat.

The complainant denied he was being vengeful, saying he was seeking justice as doctors were the fabric of society and should be role models.

But his ex-wife testified her marriage had been over for years.

She said he had moved out of their home on many occasions, but her “breaking point” had come when he suggested they all move out of the home they were renting, and move into his mother’s garage.

“He said that he was not prepared to pay half the bond for rental at my mother’s house and that he would not pay for my children.

“He moved out; he was not a responsible father or husband. He worked late hours but at the end of the month, could not meet our expenses.”

She said that she had known the doctor since 2008, as they were colleagues.

The woman said she had worked in various departments at the hospital, with her main position as bed bookings liaison.

She said that even though the doctor had treated her, it did not result in their relationship becoming romantic.

“We were first friends, and this was long after the two-day treatment he administered me. We became friends, we built trust and in 2013 a relationship began,” she said.

However, it was three months after her husband had left her in 2014, that she first kissed the doctor and then was intimate with him, she told the inquiry.

“It was… on his birthday,” she recalled with a smile.

She said their relationship was inevitable. “We had an affinity towards each other.”

The woman told the inquiry she had asked the doctor to help her purchase a car and intended repaying him. “My credit rating had dropped drastically because of the debt my husband had created. The doctor had said he would try to assist me.

“Very often, I was stranded and had to take the taxi to fetch my daughter… My (ex) husband would send strangers to fetch her and I did not agree with this. When I had the means, I would have definitely paid him (the doctor) back.”

The woman said she was forced to quit her job as her ex-husband not only confronted her at work with a baseball bat in his car, but kept on jamming her landline during working hours. “He then went to my managers and complained. It was impossible to work,” she said.

When asked by advocate Ian Dutton, the doctor’s counsel, if her ex-husband had carried the baseball bat because he was a sportsman, she laughed. “He never played any sport, let alone baseball,” she replied.

“He followed me around, would send me messages telling me where I was… and that’s when I decided to hire a private security guard.”

Her ex, who acknowledged that he’d had an affair, albeit not sexual, after the birth of their first child, said even though he’d told the doctor to “back off” from his wife, he refused and instead professed his love for her.

The couple divorced in May 2014.

The hearing is proceeding.