The Citizen reports that Limpopo’s Provincial Coronavirus Command Council has accused some teachers of submitting fake doctor’s certificates on their vulnerability to Covid-19 because of comorbidities to avoid returning to work on 6 July.
The council indicated that education authorities had received more than 700 applications from teachers to be exempt from attending school due to comorbidities, but only 400 had been granted. It said they were seeing suspicious medical certificates being provided with applications “from a certain section of doctors”. Premier Stan Mathabatha’s spokesperson Kenny Mathivha said the health department, with the assistance of police, was investigating. Noting that there was a protocol in terms of which persons 55 years or older and with comorbidities should not report for duty, Mathivha indicated: “The form [to be filled in] requires disclosure for the disease. But some teachers are going to their private doctors. They submit certificates that don’t conform to protocol.” But Mosadi Sekwadi of the Professional Educators’ Union dismissed the accusations and said authorities were trying to force teachers to break patient-doctor confidentiality. “Who are they to argue against doctors’ pronouncements. Let them bring their own doctors and assess the teachers. They can’t just go out and accuse other professionals of wrongdoing,” Sekwadi said.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Alex Matlala at The Citizen
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