Final blow for cocaine doc

→ Practitioner reported for duty when unfit to work three times.

- Molefe Seeletsa

Western Cape doctor accused of treating patients while allegedly under the influence of cocaine has suffered a blow after the Labour Court found his dismissal was fair.

Dr A Kleynhans was fired after reportedly arriving at work intoxicated on three occasions in August 2019.

His dismissal was initially overturned following an arbitrator's finding that it was procedurally unfair and he was awarded six months' remuneration.

However, the Labour Court ruled in favour of the Western Cape department of health after a review application was lodged.

Kleynhans was initially charged with two counts of misconduct, but the second—related to a wrongly inserted drip into a patient's arm—was withdrawn.

He pleaded guilty to the remaining charge, but claimed he had been under the influence of prescription medication for epilepsy and a mood disorder.

A nurse testified that she had to stop Kleynhans from performing a lumbar puncture on the wrong patient.

She also recounted a day when the doctor confused patients' prescriptions and attempted to send patients back to the clinic, insisting there were 24 waiting when only six were present.