NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO. 359
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 18 February 2011
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 2)
Mr M Waters (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:
(1) Whether the fake doctors that were working in the Eastern Cape
(details furnished) were accredited by the Health Professions Council
of SA (HPCSA); if not, (a) why not and (b) on what basis were these
doctors allowed to practice; if so, (i) how were their qualifications
verified and (ii) from which medical schools did they graduate;
(2) how many such doctors are currently under investigation for
falsifying their qualifications?
NW387E
REPLY:
1) I wish to advise the Honourable Member that the continued referral of
these particular doctors as fake is very unfair to these individuals,
is undermining the integrity of the Country and misleading members of
the public.
I convened a press conference in Pretoria on Sunday, 20 February 2011
to specifically explain what happened. The press conference was
attended by the following people/structures:
i) General Anwa Dramat: Head of the Hawks;
ii) Professor Sam Mokgokong: President of the Health Professions
Council (HPCSA);
iii) Ms M OâReilly: Acting Registrar of the HPCSA;
iv) Dr Humphrey Zokufa: CEO of the Board of Healthcare Funders
(BHF);
v) Dr Norman Mabasa: Chairperson of the South African Medical
Association (SAMA); and
vi) Ms Thembeka Gwagwa: Secretary-General of the Democratic Nursing
Organisation (DENOSA)
I wish to reiterate today, as I did in that press conference, that the
hype that these doctors are fake was an unfortunate reaction of the
spokesperson of the Hawks, Mr McIntosh Polela, out of his own
misunderstanding of facts and out of over enthusiasm (perhaps
justified due to the passion the crime fighting agency has in the
fight against crime and corruption).
Prior to the conference I invited General Anwa Dramat and Mr Polela to
my office to get clarity on why the doctors were arrested. It was not
because they are fake as it is alleged.
I am including a copy of my press statement for more information.
However, I still wish to help the Honourable Member to understand how
this Country tries to eliminate the possibilities of hiring fake
doctors.
a) application for registration with the HPCSA were received from
the following doctors:
i) Dr Chike Valentine Ezulu
ii) Dr Boladele Olotu
iii) Dr Rasheed Olawale Aremu; and
iv) Dr Akinloye Olubayo Eweoya
Each of the doctors referred to above submitted the following
documentation:
i) a copy of the degree certificate;
ii) proof of internship training or equivalent
training/experience;
iii) a copy of a valied passport or Identity Document (ID) as
proof of current citizenship;
iv) a letter of endorsement from the Department of Health
indicating that should the HPCSA register them, the
Department is willing to employ them;
v) an original copy of an academic record or transcript of
record issued by the University of educational institution
where they qualified;
vi) a certified curriculum of the applicantâs work of study,
specifying course; and
vii) a recent copy certificate of status (certificate of good
standing)
b) (i) The doctors were allowed to practise because they sat
for and passed the HPCSA Board examination for foreign-
qualified doctors. These examinations were conducted right
here in South Africa. Usually only 30% of foreign trained
doctors sitting for this examination do pass. The HPCSA
then registered them as medical practitioners like any
other doctor practising in South Africa.
When still in doubt the HPCSA usually asks foreign trained
doctors to submit verification of their education and
training credentials by the Education Commission for
foreign qualified graduates (ECFMG).
ECFMG is an American-based Commission which helps countries
to verify qualifications of doctors graduating all over the
world if a particular country is in doubt.
The international credentials services of ECFMG provides
such services to countries.
In the case of these doctors at least one has already
fulfilled this requirement.
The processes of HPCSA are being followed to deal with the
remaining doctors to fulfil this requirement of ECFMG, but
in the meantime HPCSA was able to obtain the following
information on its own.
(ii) details of the medical schools are as follows:
a. Dr Chike Valentine Ezulu
MB.BS University of Nigeria 2003
b. Dr Boladele Olotu
MB.BS University of Ilorin 2003 (Nigeria)
c. Dr Rasheed Olawale Aremu
MB.BS University of Ibadan 1994 (Nigeria)
d. Dr Akinloye Olubayo Eweoya
MB.BS University of Ilorin 1995 (Nigeria)
Additional Qualifications:
- Diploman in Public Health (DPH) University of
Pretoria 2001
- Diploman in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM & H)
University of Pretoria 2001
2) Currently no other doctors are under investigation for the
falsification of qualifications.
END.