Jacobus Zacharias Blomerus was shattered when his 39-year-old son died of a brain haemorrhage. But his grief turned to bewilderment when his wife received a letter a fortnight later telling her that it was him who was dead and that she should apply for a widow's pension.Soon his bank account was closed and pension and other benefits stopped arriving. His ID book, driver's licence and passport were cancelled and he had to cancel a trip to Botswana.The chain of events began when his name and ID number were entered on a notification of death form at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, instead of the particulars of his son, Jacobus Cornelius Blomerus.The neurosurgeon who signed the form, Dr H Govender, was found guilty of unprofessional conduct by the Health Professions Council of SA and the finding was upheld on appeal.But last week Govender's name was cleared in the Cape Town High Court by Judge Judith Cloete, who said Tygerberg Hospital's procedures at the time of Blomerus's death might have been at fault. The doctor had signed an incomplete form that was later filled in by administrative staff after the 2008 death.Cloete called the HPCSA's appeal tribunal findings "fatally flawed"...