By Thys Khiba
Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality resident Gomolemo Bonolo Seleke who exposed social media influencer and bogus doctor Matthew Lani in the early days says she finally feels justified after the fake doctor appeared in court for his actions.
Seleke previously worked as a patient tracer for the North West Department of Health. She left her job in 2021, after Lani managed to get a restraining order against her for her pursuit to expose him.
Lani and Seleke who found another job as a waste collector at the local municipality in Christiana, hail from Utlwanang township in North West.
“His first post didn’t sit well [with me]. I asked him on Facebook when he was appointed and which unit he was attached to. Lani claimed he was only working night shifts at the hospital.
“I made a mistake by giving him my numbers. A few days later, Lani phoned, claiming that his nephew was ill and he was taking him to Utlwanang Clinic, where I worked. He went there with a boy child, claiming it was his nephew,” said Seleke.
Seleke exposed Lani’s alleged connivance, when he was working shifts at clinic and a hospital in the town of Christiana in December 2020.
It is alleged that Lani started to post pictures of himself in scrubs on Facebook, claiming that he was working at the clinic, after taking his ‘nephew’ to the clinic.
“Those pictures were suspicious. I alerted the nurses. They believed me. They confirmed seeing him at the clinic, sitting next to a boy.
“He was not wearing his scrubs at the time. When nurses went to the room to fetch medicine, Lani sprang into action. He quickly put on scrubs and mask, took pictures, and claimed he was working at Utlwanang Clinic,” Seleke said.
Accompanied by a nurse, Seleke went to Christiana police station to open a fraud case against Lani.
“The police turned us back because there was insufficient evidence against Lani,” said Seleke.
Seleke tried to question Lani’s Facebook posts that suggests that he is a doctor. Unfortunately community members from Christiana accused Seleke of being jealous of Lani since she is not a qualified medical doctor.
TikTokker Lani approached the Christiana Magistrate’s Court to seek a restraining order to stop Seleke from ‘harassing’ him on Facebook.
The court granted the order, on 31 March 2021, in which Seleke was instructed “not to intimidate, insult, threaten and not to verbally, emotionally and psychologically abuse” Lani.
“At the hearing, I pleaded with the court that Lani was a fake doctor. I even asked the court to ask him to produce his medical practice number… The court refused to listen to me.
“During the hearing, Lani changed [his] tune, saying he was not a doctor but a medical student at Wits and was doing his internship in Christiana. The court believed his lies. I am happy that Wits has since distanced itself from Lani,” said Seleke.
She claimed Lani became unstoppable after opening a TikTok account to spread more lies.
Lani was arrested by security guards at Helen Joseph Hospital on
Sunday night, 29 October.
The arrest came three weeks after Gauteng health department opened a criminal case with police.
“I was right all along. I fought a painful battle where people called me names. They were gullible despite my warnings. I am vindicated. I was happy to see him being arrested and later confessing.
“My greatest concern is patients that he could have seen. He even advised people about critical medication on social media, including ARVs and PrEp. I remain opposed to him. I want my freedom and the restraining order lifted,” Seleke said.
Meanwhile, Lani, who was charged for impersonating a medical doctor, was later released because the matter was not enrolled due to insufficient evidence in the docket.
Lani told media that his social media conduct was “for entertainment.”
At the time of publishing this article Central News could not get a comment from the Department of Justice and the North West Department of Health.
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