Charges against Matthew Lani dropped

Matthew Lani is now a free man as the charges of identity fraud and impersonating a medical doctor have been dropped.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that the case has been withdrawn after the Tik Tok doctor made his first appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. He was doing whatever he was doing on TikTok for entertainment — it is not impersonation and it’s not a crime,” Mabunda said, adding that the claims were baseless as no one had come forward to say Lani had prescribed any medication for them,” Lani’s lawyer Dumisani Mabunda said.

“The hospitals, the least they could have done was to maybe ban him going to hospitals and taking videos and, if he were to continue with that, then that would be trespassing and they would have a case against him.”

“On the other hand, HPCSA [Health Professions Council of South Africa], the least they could have done was maybe to interdict him or stop him from doing those videos,” he said

Matthew Lani arrested at Johannesburg hospital

Health authorities apprehended TikTokker Matthew Lani, who allegedly impersonated a medical doctor to fuel his social media following, when he tried to sneak into a Johannesburg hospital on Sunday night.

The Gauteng Department of Health said security personnel at Helen Joseph Hospital stopped Lani on Sunday night after he accessed the premises through the main entrance.

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“Lani was caught just before 20:00, disguised in a hoodie and wearing a surgical mask with a stethoscope around his neck. He had previously entered the same facility to curate misleading content under the pretence that he was a qualified doctor,” Gauteng health department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said.

According to Modiba, Lani asked to use the bathroom after he was apprehended and then tried to “escape by jumping through the bathroom window”.

“When the security realised that he was making a run for it, they called for reinforcements, and he was subsequently apprehended again. The police were immediately called. Lani has since been handed over to the police for an official arrest,” he said.

News24 previously reported that a case of identity fraud had been opened against Lani as well as a case of impersonating a medical doctor.

Lani made headlines for presenting himself as an employee of the Gauteng health department at the hospital in Johannesburg and claiming to be a medicine graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand.

He also claimed to be registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and that he obtained a high school diploma from Cambridge International College. The institutions have denied affiliation with him. Lani has maintained his innocence.