PRIVATE medical practitioners have defrauded the Department of Labour of R27-million over the past two years.
The fraudsters were working in syndicates that also involved officials from the department to milk the Compensation Fund by submitting claims for treatment of employees who did not exist.
Claims submitted would indicate that employees had been treated for injuries and other illnesses suffered on duty.
The department said yesterday that four doctors and two physiotherapists were found to have been involved in the scheme.
The Compensation Fund is a public entity of the Department of Labour that compensates workers who sustained injuries at work or contracted diseases while performing duties at their workplaces.
Doctor Tebogo Ephraim Kealetsa, who ran a private practice in Pampierstad, Northern Cape, appeared at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria yesterday.
He allegedly defrauded the department of R700000 between 2009 and 2010. He is facing two counts of fraud.
Magistrate Dawie Jacobs postponed his case to February 28 this year.
Kealetsa, 37, asked for a postponement through his attorney, Simon Molele, after he pleaded bankruptcy. He asked to be given time to raise money to be able to pay his legal fees.
All these doctors are, however, still practising because they have not been reported to the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
HPCSA acting registrar Kgosi Letlape said: "We cannot act if the matter has not been reported to us. If there are complaints against practitioners, we will put it to them and afford them a chance to answer for themselves.
"If they have been convicted by a court of law, we will demand the judgment transcripts before we institute our processes."
In another case, physiotherapist Jury Sehonoe of Rustenburg, North West, was found guilty by the court of defrauding the fund of R5-million.
He was charged with 15 counts of fraud and 26 of money laundering. He admitted to have connived with department officials - Maxwell Ramaphosa and Samuel Mofokeng - in defrauding the department.
Sehonoe allegedly said he was prepared to repay the department "for the money deposited unfaithfully into my account".
Sehonou's matter is so far the only successfully prosecuted case, while others are either in court or under investigation.
He will be sentenced on March 28 this year.
In another case, which is still under investigation by the South African Police Service, a doctor who cannot be named allegedly made fraudulent claims of R12-million to the fund.
Department spokesman Twana Makubela said the department had been able to smash the syndicate in which private practitioners colluded with department officials in committing the crime.
He said the department set up a risk management directorate - an internal investigations unit that investigated suspicious claims lodged with the fund - in 2009. He said 14 department employees have been dismissed after they were found to be part of the syndicate.
"We are winning the war against fraud. When we arrest people and prosecute them, others will see that we are serious about rooting out corruption in the department," he said.
Makubela said another physiotherapist and six former department employees were also scheduled to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court today.
Medics defraud state of R27m
PRIVATE medical practitioners have defrauded the Department of Labour of R27-million over the past two years.
The fraudsters were working in syndicates that also involved officials from the department to milk the Compensation Fund by submitting claims for treatment of employees who did not exist.
Claims submitted would indicate that employees had been treated for injuries and other illnesses suffered on duty.
The department said yesterday that four doctors and two physiotherapists were found to have been involved in the scheme.
The Compensation Fund is a public entity of the Department of Labour that compensates workers who sustained injuries at work or contracted diseases while performing duties at their workplaces.
Doctor Tebogo Ephraim Kealetsa, who ran a private practice in Pampierstad, Northern Cape, appeared at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria yesterday.
He allegedly defrauded the department of R700000 between 2009 and 2010. He is facing two counts of fraud.
Magistrate Dawie Jacobs postponed his case to February 28 this year.
Kealetsa, 37, asked for a postponement through his attorney, Simon Molele, after he pleaded bankruptcy. He asked to be given time to raise money to be able to pay his legal fees.
All these doctors are, however, still practising because they have not been reported to the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
HPCSA acting registrar Kgosi Letlape said: "We cannot act if the matter has not been reported to us. If there are complaints against practitioners, we will put it to them and afford them a chance to answer for themselves.
"If they have been convicted by a court of law, we will demand the judgment transcripts before we institute our processes."
In another case, physiotherapist Jury Sehonoe of Rustenburg, North West, was found guilty by the court of defrauding the fund of R5-million.
He was charged with 15 counts of fraud and 26 of money laundering. He admitted to have connived with department officials - Maxwell Ramaphosa and Samuel Mofokeng - in defrauding the department.
Sehonoe allegedly said he was prepared to repay the department "for the money deposited unfaithfully into my account".
Sehonou's matter is so far the only successfully prosecuted case, while others are either in court or under investigation.
He will be sentenced on March 28 this year.
In another case, which is still under investigation by the South African Police Service, a doctor who cannot be named allegedly made fraudulent claims of R12-million to the fund.
Department spokesman Twana Makubela said the department had been able to smash the syndicate in which private practitioners colluded with department officials in committing the crime.
He said the department set up a risk management directorate - an internal investigations unit that investigated suspicious claims lodged with the fund - in 2009. He said 14 department employees have been dismissed after they were found to be part of the syndicate.
"We are winning the war against fraud. When we arrest people and prosecute them, others will see that we are serious about rooting out corruption in the department," he said.
Makubela said another physiotherapist and six former department employees were also scheduled to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court today.
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