Students refuse to be taught by ‘Dr Death’

Lisa Isaacs

STELLENBOSCH University students have refused to be taught by Dr Wouter Basson, the man known as Dr Death for the role he played as head of a top secret chemical and biological warfare project during the apartheid era.

This comes after it emerged that Basson, now a practising cardiologist, is teaching select groups of fourth-year medical students who are on clinical rotation at Durbanville’s Mediclinic.

In 2013, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) found Basson guilty on four charges of unprofessional conduct.

The university has, however, distanced itself from the employment of Basson and said he was never appointed, or employed by the faculty of medicine and health sciences (FMHS) in any capacity.

Tygerberg student council chairperson, Nick Wayne, said students who were taught by Basson had done so willingly, with no one forcing them to interact with him.

“While acknowledging that Wouter Basson is not directly employed by Stellenbosch University, the Tygerberg student council hereby issues a clear and unambiguous call to management to bar Wouter Basson from all contact with students.

“We understand that Stellenbosch University uses Mediclinic as a partner in the education of Tygerberg Students and believe the university should review the policies that made students vulnerable to such a situation,” he said.

Student collective, Open Stellenbosch (OS), has also called for the university to publicise which of its staff members and affiliates have had a role in apartheid warfare.

“The university withholds information about role-players in apartheid, currently employed in the university. We want the university to identity and publicise their affiliates and staff that have had a role in apartheid,” OS said.

OS member and lecturer Kylie Thomas said: “The fact that Basson has been teaching students at Stellenbosch University points to the need for an investigation into the hiring practises of the university and public-private partnerships.”

But the university said the specialists at Mediclinic received accreditation from the FMHS to train and supervise students.

“When the Durbanville Mediclinic was accredited as a training site, accreditation was also given to a group of doctors to act as clinical supervisors. In his capacity as a private doctor who works in a Mediclinic hospital, Dr Basson was accredited as a clinical supervisor as part of this group. After he was found guilty by the HPCSA, the FMHS withdrew Dr Basson’s accreditation (in 2014). Since the accreditation was withdrawn, he has not been involved in the training or supervision of students in any official capacity,” they said in a statement.

“If FMHS students did attend any tutorials given by Dr Basson at the hospital subsequent to the withdrawal of his accreditation, this was done of their own accord and it does not form part of the formal FMHS training. The FMHS has not received any student complaints about the tutorials that took place in 2014, nor about any contact with students in 2015.”

lisa.isaacs@inl.co.za

@lisa_isaacs