LISTEN | No charge: 'Dr' Matthew Lani is free

A charge of impersonating a medical doctor has been withdrawn against social media personality “Dr” Matthew Lani.

The 27-year-old was arrested after being apprehended by security personnel at the Helen Joseph Provincial Hospital on Sunday.

He left the Johannesburg magistrate's court precinct on Tuesday with a crutch under his arm and a wound on his lips.

“I just want to go home, eat and sleep,” Lani said.

His lawyer, Dumisani Mabunda, added that though investigations may continue, they were confident the matter would not be reinstated.

“The state has no prima facie evidence against him. We have wise prosecutors who read from the docket and they concurred with us that there’s no case against him. There will be possible investigations.

“He was facing one charge of impersonating a doctor and as we have already indicated, his conduct was just for entertainment. There’s no person who says that he actually consulted with him and paid him as a doctor.

“He’s not a qualified doctor,” added Mabunda.

Lani said: “This whole situation has been overwhelming from the day it started. The past couple of hours have been difficult.”

He added that he was considering his future as a social media “doctor”.

Asked how he was injured, why he was at the hospital and where he had got fake qualification certificates to purport to be a doctor on social media, Lani refused to comment.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said: “We received a docket, but [its contents prevented us from placing] the matter on the roll. It [has been] refused pending further investigations. There are no charges at this stage, there is no evidence. We cannot say it was a rushed arrest. There are no prospects of a successful prosecution.”

Mjonondwane added that the NPA had to differentiate between Lani being a content creator or a person who misrepresented himself.

“You cannot be charged for lying unless you lie under oath,” she said.

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