An 11-year-old boy with cerebral palsy because of medical negligence received only half of the nearly R10-million settlement from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, because the balance was allegedly embezzled by lawyers.
The trust opened in Sfundo Phiwayinkosi Hlongwane’s name only received R4.9 million of the R9.3-million settlement, and now the Legal Practice Council (LPC) has launched an investigation into MLS Attorneys, the firm that brokered the deal.
The LPC regulates the professional conduct of all legal practitioners.
Sfundo was born with brain damage after a mishandled birth. His case is one of many documented in a forensic investigation report into alleged corruption in medical malpractice claims, commissioned by KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu.
NMK Forensics carried out the investigation. NMK’s 2023 report revealed that in the 2021/22 financial year, the Department paid out R266 million in medical malpractice claims.
In 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe medico-legal claims across all provincial health departments.
An earlier SIU investigation uncovered widespread corruption in administering such claims in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. Both provinces were facing medico-legal claims totaling a staggering R15.9 billion and R21.2 billion, respectively.
The SIU is currently investigating more than 2 800 medico-legal claims across the country, with a combined value of more than R33 billion.