The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has closed its investigation into allegations that controversial content creator Matthew Lani was denied his HIV/Aids medication by the Gauteng department of health.
Lani failed to provide evidence of complaint
Zamantungwa Mbeki, the SAHRC Gauteng provincial manager, said their investigation has been closed. She said this was because Lani failed to provide the commission with additional evidence to substantiate his claims that the Gauteng health department denied him access into its public health facilities so that he can receive his HIV/Aids medication.
Mbeki was speaking on Wednesday during the commission’s virtual media briefing regarding updates on matters that the commission’s Gauteng provincial office investigated and were featured in the media.
Mbeki said the commission received a complaint from Lani against the Gauteng department of health. In it he said it was denying him access to the department’s public hospitals, among others, Helen Joseph Hospital. He also said it was preventing him from getting his HIV/Aids treatment.
Lani had alleged being denied access to HIV/Aids meds
After receiving Lani’s complaint, Mbeki said the commission informed the Gauteng health department about the allegations.
“The department conducted its own investigation and spoke with its facilities regarding the allegations. The commission received a report from the department in February 2024 wherein they were refuting the allegations. The department said from its investigation it could not find evidence supporting the allegations,” said Mbeki.
She said the commission then gave the department’s response to Lani and asked him for additional evidence. However, Lani failed to provide the additional evidence.
Department’s probe found no evidence of wrongdoing
“We made numerous attempts to contact the complainant [Lani] to give us additional evidence. And we could not make any contact with the complainant. The department refuted the allegations. The complainant failed to give us additional evidence, and we could not get hold of him. So, the investigation was closed,” said Mbeki.
Lani made headlines in October last year when he allegedly impersonated a medical doctor and recorded a series of videos on TikTok. In the videos he was curating content in the hospitals’ corridors.
He was arrested in October last year after he was apprehended by security guards at the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg.
Impersonated medical doctors at the hospital premises
Lani was charged with impersonating a medical doctor after he recorded a series of videos on TikTok. He was curating content disguised as a medical doctor in the Helen Joseph Hospital’s corridors.
He appeared at the Johannesburg magistrate’s court, where the charges against him were later withdrawn.
