Media Release
Embargo: Immediate release Enquiries: Doctors For Life Int.
Date: 22 January 2021 Telephone: 032 481 5550
Dr Jacques de Vos, whose professional conduct hearing has been delayed by the HPCSA since 2017, has applied to the North Gauteng High Court to compel the HPCSA to finalise the hearing against him. In 2017 Dr De Vos has been suspended from the gynaecology rotation during his internship at 2 Military Hospital, Cape Town after he advised a woman that her 19-week old unborn baby is a human life.
Since July 2017 Dr De Vos has been prevented from practising medicine and has been charged with unprofessional conduct. For the past three and a half years the HPCSA has been delaying the hearing against him, applied for postponements, and unilaterally withdrew the charges against Dr De Vos only to reinstate it almost a year later.
In December 2019 Dr De Vos pleaded “not guilty” to the charges against him. Despite the best efforts of his legal team, the HPCSA ignored Dr De Vos’ pleas to state his case. In September 2020 the HPCSA again unilaterally “withdrew” the charges for a second time. Lawyers for Dr De Vos will argue in the High Court that he is entitled to a conviction or acquittal because he has entered a plea, and that the HPCSA must proceed with the hearing with urgency.
Dr De Vos, who is wheelchair-bound, has faced severe ongoing prejudice as the result of the unexplained delays, failure to meet deadlines, and refusal to provide Dr De Vos with information of his alleged “misdemeanours”. This, despite Dr De Vos being ready to state his case, and despite expert witnesses in human anatomy and psychiatry being ready to testify.
Dr De Vos is a member of Doctors For Life International and has been assisting him with his case including fundraising to cover expenses (all lawyers are working pro-bono though), and arranging expert witnesses. For more information, contact Doctors For Life at [email protected]
