Mhlaba Memela

Mhlaba Memela

KwaZulu-Natal social welfare MEC Meshack Hadebe has vowed to act against bogus doctors and herbal medicine dispensers who prey on pensioners.

His warning comes after Hadebe caught a 15-year-old boy examining pensioners at the eMafusini pension pay point at Dannhauser in northern KwaZulu-Natal this week.

The boy's unnamed mother, who was apparently supervising her son's shenanigans, allegedly worked for a local company, Siyasiza Herbal Medicines.

It is unclear whether the company had sanctioned the "practice", although the teenager was allegedly dispensing medicines under Siyasiza's label.

Jordan Schalkwyk, the owner of Siyasiza, said: "We are not doctors. We are herbalists, and if the MEC wants to take legal action against us, he is welcome."

He said they had taken their medicines to the Health Department for approval. Whether approval was pending is also unclear.

But Schalkwyk said it was wrong for an employee to use her son. He promised to investigate.

"I caught them in the act after I was tipped off," Hadebe said.