Netcare KwaZulu Convicted and Sentenced today
Today the St Augustine's Hospital also known as Netcare KwaZulu (Pty) Limited was convicted and sentenced at the Durban Regional Court for contravening the Human Tissue Act No. 65 of 1983.
The accused company was convicted after pleading guilty to 102 counts on three main charges relating to illegal surgeries done between 2001 and 2003 at the St. Augustines Hospital in Durban whereby human kidneys were illegally acquired and transplanted. These charges include the following:-
- Five (5) counts of unlawfully acquiring and transplanting human kidneys by acquiring kidneys from five minors in law at the time the kidneys were transplanted;
- Five (5) counts of unlawfully receiving payments for the acquisition of human kidneys from minors;
- 92 counts that they had received and paid money to other people / service providers.
The accused company was sentenced to a fine and confiscations totaling seven million eight hundred and twenty thousand rand (R7 820 000). The sentencing was comprised of :
- an accumulative fine of R4 million,
- a confiscation order of R3.8 million after the court was advised that the accused company had derived benefits to this amount,
- and further fines totaling R20 000 for at least ten counts under charges 1 & 2.
In relation to this case, summons were served on four surgeons, a doctor, two employees of Netcare and one translator in October 2010. These accused are expected to appear in the Durban Regional Court on 23rd November 2010.
It has emerged that the conviction of a hospital in respect of human tissue cases such as this one may be the first conviction in the world. Law enforcement agencies around the world have already started to take these matters seriously. The SAPS has been to the United Nations and other conferences around the world to share knowledge and best practices to help our counterparts to deal with these types of crimes effectively.
This project was a long, intricate, complex but fruitful one which was investigated by Warrant Officer K G Chetty (KG) and led by Captain Louis Helberg since 2003.
Statement issued by Colonel Vishnu Naidoo, South African Police Service spokesperson, November 9 2010
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