Johannesburg nurse held over issuing of fake Covid-19 negative certificates

A 28-YEAR-old male nurse at a Johannesburg public clinic has been arrested for fraud and corruption related to the sale of fake Covid-19 negative certificates.

It is alleged that the suspect, who works at Parkhurst Clinic, sold the fake Covid-19 negative test certificates for R500 to people wishing to travel to other countries without conducting the actual test and taking blood samples.

The city was trying to track all those that may have bought certificates from the suspect.

The Cape Times’ sister publication, the Star understands that the health official had been working for the clinic for two years, having joined in July 2019, and was still new to the health industry.

All that his customers had to do was send him an identity number and after a day or two the client would receive a message from the laboratory indicating that he/she had tested negative for Covid-19. He would then give the customer a certificate which he charged R500 for. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the suspect is not working alone.

More suspects at the clinic and the National Health Laboratory Services are expected to be arrested as the investigation is continuing.

The Joburg Group Forensic and Investigation Service’s spokesperson Lucky Sindane said the suspect was closely monitored for over a week and was arrested during a sting operation which was led by Joburg mayor Jolidee Matongo, the service and the Joburg metro police.

“We received an inquiry from the SABC’s special assignment about this activity.

“This was followed by more inquiries from members of the public. We then set up a sting where we bought the certificate. This was followed by an arrest of the individual who was arrested from his home in Kenilworth on Saturday night. The suspect is obviously not working alone since he worked from the public clinic, and had accomplices at the laboratory,” Sindane said, adding that more charges as defined by the Disaster Management Act may be added to the initial charge of fraud.

Matongo said the incident was unfortunate.

“We don’t need such people in our system. We would like to encourage our staff not to engage in such corrupt activities because it compromises the whole country. Imagine someone has contracted Covid-19 and they are given a certificate that says they are negative. That person will infect many people and some will succumb to the virus,” Matongo said.

The SA Medical Association (Sama) said it was shocked by the arrest.

The association’s spokesperson Angelique Coetzee said the actions of the health worker compromised the national plan to deal with the pandemic.

“Sama can never agree with this kind of thing. This is fraud… you cannot write any letter if you are not a medical doctor and have examined the person. We condemn this. It comes down to fraud,” Coetzee said.

She said people should not open themselves up to criminal acts considering Covid-19 was a national disaster.

Despite the increase in the number of people vaccinated, Coetzee said the country had not achieved herd immunity.