Doctor ordered to repay R7m

THE Grahamstown High Court has ordered retired Mthatha surgeon Professor Lizo Mazwai to pay back the R7-million a medical aid mistakenly put into his bank account.

Mazwai, who is also a former long-serving dean of Walter Sisulu University medical school, fought tooth and nail in court against paying back the money to Metropolitan Health, saying he had blown the bulk of it as he had believed it to be a legitimate pension payout.

But he will now have to find a way to pay back Metropolitan Health some R7.08-million plus interest of 9.5%, backdated to January last year.

Acting Judge Nicola RedpathMolony also ordered him to pay all the legal costs of the application, including what is likely to be a hefty bill from senior counsel, Advocate Chris Eloff, who argued the matter on behalf of Metropolitan Health.

He will also have to pay his own legal team, including senior counsel Advocate Dali Mpofu.

According to court papers, Mazwai’s account administrators, Medical EDI Services, which assists doctors to submit claims to medical aids, filled in an incorrect amount in what was termed the software’s “multiplier column”.

The result was a hefty bill of more than R7-million being submitted to Metropolitan Health which administers claims on behalf of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS).

Mazwai used the funds to pay off debts and make investments.