Security guards at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, detained a man dressed in a doctor's laboratory coat and carrying a stethoscope.
He was reportedly observed strolling through the hospital corridors, snapping photographs. The site administration was warned about a suspicious man who claimed to be a professor.
Acting chief executive of the health facility, Nomkhita Mthonjana, told the SABC that the security guards rushed into her office to inform her of the matter.
"They said there is someone identifying himself as a professor. When I looked at the badge, it stated, 'Prof of Internal Medicine and Surgery'. And yet, this badge is not the same as what we have in our institution," she said.
Mthonjana went on to explain that hospital management swiftly called the police to deal with the suspected impostor doctor.
"There was also circulating media about this guy whereby he was also identifying himself as a teacher, and at times as a doctor, so, we went to the police. The station commander responded urgently, and the police came. I had been interrogating him; he said that he wanted to do volunteer jobs, and I said we cannot have volunteers in the institution."
The man's coat and stethoscope were confiscated by the police.
In a similar case, Matthew Lani posed also posed as a doctor and took South Africa by storm. However, it was later discovered that he faked an entire career and was arrested. In the aftermath, Lani ended up homeless with his mother.
In an interview on the Engineer Your Life podcast, Lani said that he became an advanced HIV and AIDS clinician and worked with those with the diagnosis. He also claimed to be working under an NGO.
"I decided to start social media accounts. We had to come up with different characters and that is how Dr Matthew came about. We trademarked Dr Matthew. This was to humanise the education (of HIV) and simplify it."
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