The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has found a doctor guilty of unprofessional conduct for fleecing an elderly woman out of her life savings.
Johann van Rooyen, who practised as a GP at 14 Gabriel Road, Plumstead, has been removed from the Register of the Medical and Dental Professions Board, after a professional conduct committee found he used his doctor/patient relationship in respect of the patient to enrich himself.
Van Rooyen appeared before the committee after he was accused of stealing R450 000 from his then patient of 30 years, Marjorie Pelton.
Pelton’s daughter, Cheryl Bluff, said Van Rooyen accompanied her mother, about 76 at the time, to the bank several times and wrote various cheques, which Van Rooyen made her sign.
Bluff said her mother died in 2012 after suffering from a brain tumour and was senile at the time. Van Rooyen treated her.
HPCSA spokesperson Priscilla Sekhonyana said yesterday: “The sentence will send a strong message to practitioners who conduct themselves in an unethical manner. The practitioner has been removed from the Register of the Medical and Dental Professions Board.”
Van Rooyen said he was not practising anymore, and refused to answer questions.
“Rather speak to my lawyer, but they won’t tell you anything more. I’ve got nothing to say,” he said.
He previously referred to the charges as “all hearsay and junk".
Bluff said while she was satisfied by the finding, she derived no pleasure from it.
“I feel heartsore for my mom’s sake. She had carefully saved that money - it was her nest egg, and the last proceeds of our family house,” she said.
Bluff said the money was supposed to be used for Pelton’s frail-care, but when she needed it, there was nothing.