By: Natasha Archary

Matthew Lani, a TikTok user who claims he became a medical doctor at the age of 22, has found himself in hot water, after Wits and the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health released statements against his “bogus” claims.
Lani who raised eyebrows on the social media platform for dishing out medical advice, states that he graduated from Wits, and was employed at Helen Joseph.
The HIV-positive content creator who always had his stethoscope on hand in his videos addressed the “confusion” about his qualifications on his TikTok account, saying Matthew Lani is just his social media name.
Lani’s claims included skipping Grades 4 and 8, and being enrolled at Wits medical school at the age of 16. He also says he does not have a matric qualification.
“I’m making this video because the HPCSA also asked me to clarify this in a video to you guys, Lani is not my legal surname.
That is my social media handle. I don’t use the Lani surname in my IDs. Zingelwa is my legal surname.
So, don’t go to the HPCSA database and put in Lani surname, and when you don’t find results, you get excited.”
Matthew Lani on TikTok addressing the confusion around his name
However, Wits has distanced itself from Lani’s claims, releasing a statement that no person by the name of Matthew Lani, nor any of his other names can be found on the institute’s database.
WITS SETS THE PUBLIC RECORD STRAIGHT
Following claims made by “Dr Matthew Lani” on social media and based on the facts at hand, Wits cannot find any person who graduated by the name of Matthew Bongani Zingelwa or Sanele Zingelwa in recent years.
Read the full statement below. pic.twitter.com/lVFzPpeYdv
— Wits University (@WitsUniversity) October 9, 2023
Matthew Lani is also facing further action by the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health, who shared that a criminal case will be opened against the bogus doctor.
The Department says Lani managed to weave his way into the system, pretending to be employed by Helen Joseph Hospital, where he took his social media medical content.
In addition, the Department says the real Dr Sanele Sobani Vambani Zingelwa will also be opening a case of fraud against Lani at the Tembisa Police Station.
“The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has on Monday, 09 October opened a case of impersonating a medical doctor at the Brixton Police Station following reports of a so-called Dr Matthew Lani, who had assumed various pseudo medical roles, falsely presenting himself as an employee of the department.
Lani managed to weave his way into the system pretending to be in the employ of Helen Joseph Hospital where he moved around the hospital corridors curating content for social media.
Further investigations have revealed that Dr Sanele Zingelwa, the name which Lani claims is his real name, belongs to a second-year medical intern at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital.”
MEDIA STATEMENT || GAUTENG HEALTH OPENS A CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST A BOGUS DOCTOR pic.twitter.com/cx21oJDgd6
— Gauteng Health (@GautengHealth) October 9, 2023
Matthew Lani’s TikTok account has since been deactivated.
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