‘We need to get verdict in De Vos case’

THE legal team representing anti-abortion doctor Jacques de Vos are preparing for a High Court application to compel the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) to deliver a verdict in the long-running matter.

The legal team have previously said De Vos was charged with unprofessional conduct because of his anti-abortion views.

De Vos’s advocate, Keith Matthee, wrote in the heads of argument for the acquittal: “The defence had submitted testimony from three experts that an abortion could result in long-term adverse emotional and psychological damage to the mother, and that a foetus was human life.”

Yesterday De Vos’s attorney Martus de Wet said: “While we have no firm date yet, we will be asking the High Court to allow Dr De Vos to state his case so that the matter can proceed.”

De Wet said: “The bottom line is that our client is entitled to a verdict since he pleaded not guilty and presented uncontested defence evidence in the case which dragged on for more than two years. The HSPCA can’t just withdraw the charges and leave it. They have done that before only to reinstate the charges against Dr De Vos and we have no way of being sure they won’t do it again. Once this application is filed, we hope to deal with other aspects such as the issue of discrimination, in future applications.”

Asked about the dropping of the charges HPCSA spokesperson Priscilla Sekhonyana said: “When we received an affidavit from the complainant indicating that she no longer wishes to proceed with the complaint that was filed against Dr De Vos, the HPCSA had no alternative but to withdraw the charges.” |