Mortuary doctors charged

Disciplinary hearing for irregular postmortems, sale of state goods

TWO medical practitioners based at the Gelvandale mortuary have been hauled before a disciplinary hearing for allegedly irregularly booking postmortems and selling state property. A former chief district surgeon and current chief medical officer of forensic pathology services at Gelvandale, Dr Dave Kalev, faces two charges, including gross dishonesty and negligence.

His colleague, Gelvandale forensic pathology unit manager Vincent Chetty, faces six charges, including corruption and fraud.

A provisional charge, signed by health superintendent Dr Siva Pillay in August, indicates the offences were committed between March 2010 and June last year.

The charge sheet indicates the charge of gross negligence against Kalev relates to the alleged irregular booking of natural death cases through the Gelvandale mortuary register. Such cases do not require postmortems, which are only required for deaths resulting from unnatural causes. Kalev then allegedly claimed overtime.

But the Health Department alleges he performed these postmortems du- ring normal working hours and – apart from the fact that the postmortems were not needed in the first place – he was not entitled to overtime.

The department also alleges Chetty sold body pans – the lawful property of the department – to an undertaker in Uitenhage.

The charge sheet also says Chetty was negligent and failed to safeguard 55 other body pans in his care.

The hearing – which had been postponed twice previously – was due to resume on Wednesday, but the department requested a further postponement.

Attorney Nash Vandayar, acting for the two accused, said his clients would not comment but would respond to the allegations during the hearing.

He said the postponements were extremely prejudicial to his clients, that the matter was being unnecessarily delayed and that his clients wished to expeditiously deal with the case because they were also entitled to fairness in terms of the legal procedure followed.

Health Department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said the two had not been suspended as the department did not want to encourage a culture of suspending employees who then simply sat at home while getting their salaries every month of doing nothing.