No record of a Dr Maduma could be found by the Allied Healthcare Professionals of South Africa, the Traditional Healers Organisation, the South African Healers Association, or the African National Healers Association.
However, there are more than 20 traditional healers’ associations in South Africa so we gave Dr Maduma the benefit of the doubt and asked him which one he belonged to, so that we could verify his registration. He couldn’t remember. “There are so many of them,” he explained. “I gave my certificate to the police for their investigation and I can’t remember the name of the association off-hand.”
Mr W Bronkhorst, a director at the African National Healers Association, said there is an attempt being made to unite all of the traditional healers associations under one umbrella and only registered members would be able to issue medical certificates (sick notes).
“Until this happens, employers who suspect that an employee is misusing their sick leave can request a signed copy of the traditional healer’s registration certificate and South African ID document. If the staff member cannot produce these documents, the employer can withhold pay for the period that the employee was absent,” said Mr Bronkhorst.
“No traditional healer can claim to have a practice number with the council yet, because the council is still being formed. It is not up and running yet.”
Lucky Mazibuko, who spoke on behalf of the South Africa Healers Association, was adamant that Dr Maduma needed to be stopped. “We need to do something. People like Dr Maduma are taking our work down and putting the good reputation of traditional healers at jeopardy. A sick note is only to be issued if somebody is sick. This is very serious. He is robbing the company his clients work for,” said Mr Mazibuko.
