By: Natasha Archary
The real Dr Sanele Zingelwa has opened up about how his life has been affected after “bogus doctor” Matthew Lani allegedly stole his identity.
Speaking on the That Show with Dr Solidus YouTube channel, the 2nd-year medical intern at Tembisa Hospital, says Lani’s actions have put a huge amount of strain on both him and his family.
This after Wits University released a statement distancing itself from Dr Matthew Lani who was using Dr Sanele Zingelwa’s alias, claiming it was his “real name.”
While Wits said there were no records of a Matthew Bongani Zingelwa or Sanele Zingelwa graduating from the institution in recent years, the real Dr Sanele shared that he was part of an integrated international programme with Wits between 2014 to 2020.
“Firstly I have three names, Sanele Sobani Vambani, and Zingelwa is my surname. I studied medicine in Cuba after being awarded the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro scholarship.
This was from late 2014 until August 2020. The programme was integrated with South African institutions, and I was integrated via Wits.
After 18-months of integration with Wits which ended in December 2021, I started my medical internship at Tembisa Hospital in January 2022.”
Dr Sanele Zingelwa opened up about Matthew Lani using his identity
Dr Sanele said he was surprised that Wits put out a statement saying that his name could not be found on their database, when his scrubs included “Wits Class of 2021.”
“Imagine you’re at work, about to put up a spinal and I get a phonecall saying I need to report to HR immediately.
I get to HR, there are two gentlemen there from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) who questioned me about a complaint that they had received from ‘me’.
I was confused, because I never made any complaint to SAHPRA. They asked me for my name, my number, my email address, all of which didn’t correspond with what they had on record.
They tell me that the complaint was about a product that was out on the market which was making people sick. Apparently there are 40 patients in Helen Joseph who took this product and got sick, and three patients were reportedly admitted to ICU as a result.
When SAHPRA went to Helen Joseph to investigate these claims, they were told there weren’t any patients that were sick or admitted in ICU, and they traced me at Tembisa Hospital.
During this meeting, the bogus doctor was called, and he was adamant that he was Dr Sanele Zingelwa, which was shocking as this was the first time I realized that it was a case of stolen identity.”
Dr Sanele Zingelwa says he has a case of fraud opened against Matthew Lani, and hopes the bogus doctor will be brought to justice soon.
WATCH: The real Dr Sanele Zingelwa talks about how he found out Matthew Lani was using his identity
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