JOHANNESBURG - The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) said it takes, with seriousness, the Madlanga Commission's concerns over questionable medical certificates presented to it.
"Our job is to protect the public, but also to hold medical professionals to a higher standard," said the HPCSA's Professor Salome Maswime.
The Commission has repeatedly raised concerns over witnesses scheduled to testify before it, presenting questionable medical certificates at the eleventh hour of their appearances.
On Wednesday, the Commission took umbrage with North West businessman Suliman Carrim after he was allegedly spotted out in public.
Carrim failed to appear before the Commission after he suffered a medical emergency. The Commission said they intend to subpoena his doctors to question the validity of his medical absence.
READ: Madlanga Commission to subpoena Suliman Carrim's doctor
The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC)'s Advocate Andrea Johnson also submitted a sick note on the day she was due to appear. This follows others like businessman Mike van Wyk and Major-General Feroz Khan.
The latter is, according to his lawyers, unconscious in hospital after he was allegedly shot at in Houghton.
Maswime said this is the first time the HPSCA has to verify the authenticity of doctors' notes for Commissions
She said while they have done so for workplaces, the prescripts of the law will still need to be adhered to.