The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) warned that unregistered practitioners are putting lives at risk as new cases of ‘bogus doctors’ continue to surface, reported Spotlight (10 February 2026)
The label “bogus doctors” also refers to anyone providing care without proper registration, including physiotherapists, interns and other professionals using forged certificates or another practitioner’s registration details.
According to a report by risk management firm D-Finitive healthcare fraud caused losses of between R22bn and R28bn.
Dr Magome Masike, registrar of the HPCSA revealed that 49 bogus practitioners were caught and arrested from March 2024 to February 2025 and 3,708 complaints had been received over five years.