Nthabeleng Precious Ramashala, the woman nabbed at the Thembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital for posing as a doctor, has been granted R1 000 bail.
On Monday, the Thembisa magistrate’s court granted bail to 37-year-old Ramashala.
Ramashala is accused of violating the Health Act by pretending to be a doctor and of possessing items that were likely stolen.
The stethoscope that was hanging around her neck when she was taken into custody at the hospital on June 18 is thought to be stolen property.
Case postponed to November
Magistrate Mamokete Sihlangu rescheduled the case for November 12 in order to allow for an additional police investigation.
Ramashala was told by Sihlangu not to leave her mother’s house until after her subsequent court appearance.
A warrant for Ramashala’s arrest would be issued, she said, and the state would forfeit her bail if she does not show up in court on November 12.
According to a police source close to the case, once Ramashala entered the hospital’s ward, she identified herself to the patient and hospital staff as a doctor by administering medication to the patient.
She was apprehended while doing rounds in the wards, according to the Gauteng department of health.
Admitted as a patient in May
The nurses who spotted her and saw nothing doctoral about her demeanour raised the alarm.
“The police were called to the scene, and a preliminary investigation revealed that she was a bogus doctor,” said Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo.
“The suspect was arrested and charged with impersonating a medical practitioner.”
Motalatale Modiba, the spokesperson for the Gauteng health department, said a preliminary report revealed that Ramashala was admitted as a patient from May 23 to 28 at the same ward where she was arrested.
