EFF calls for boycott of ‘racist’ dentist

Cape Town: 04/05/16 Eff is accusing Dr Deon Booysen is racist in Paarl Picture Ayanda Ndamane

Cape Town: 04/05/16 Eff is accusing Dr Deon Booysen is racist in Paarl Picture Ayanda Ndamane

Published May 5, 2016

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Cape Town - A Wellington dentist accused of racial segregation is now considering closing his surgery.

The Economic Freedom Fighters have called on people to boycott Dr Deon Booysen’s practice.

They claimed Booysen had separate treatment rooms for race groups, with “hard plastic chairs” for coloured patients and “soft comfortable couches for white patients.

On Tuesday, the EFF in Drakenstein, led by the provincial chairperson Bernard Joseph, picketed at the dentist’s practice in Prins Street.

Joseph said coloured people are helped in a “secondary room, referred to as the clinic, and which can be compared to the inside of a hokkie”.

But on Wednesday an angry Dr Booysen said the only reason black and coloured patients are being treated in his “clinic” is because he offers them cheaper rates.

Dr Booysen explained: “The usual price for patients on medical aid is R393 but we reduce the costs to R100 for farm workers who cannot afford or do not have any medical plans.

“They are welcome to sit anywhere in the practice and the reason we do our extraction in the clinic is because that is the place that is equipped for that procedure.

Booysen, who said he has two coloured assistants, now feels like closing down the clinic.

“My profit margins from the clinic are little to non-existent but I come here every morning and push my bookings so that I can accommodate everyone.

“I have been doing this for the past 39 years and for Mr Joseph to storm in here with unfounded accusations tarnishing my reputation is unacceptable.

“I don’t know how far I have to still bend over backwards to help people but if this is the attitude of the EFF, then I will close the clinic.”

But Joseph says Booysen is lying because white people who don’t have medical aid are also not allowed in the “clinic”.

“We spoke to residents who verified these kind of practices to us, they are true and we stand by them,” he added.

“Even if he closes the clinic it’s fine, the government is there to deal with providing such healthcare services to the poor.

“And we warned him that we would be back in a week and if nothing has changed, we will report him to the Health Professional Council.”

Daily Voice

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