R3,000 bail in sting case over sick notes
Doctor accused of writing fake sick notes to appear again in September
Fraud-accused Dr Siphokazi Sokupa breathed a sigh of relief when the East London magistrate’s court ruled that the state had not presented a compelling enough case for her to be denied bail.
Magistrate Linda Magaxeni granted Sokupa R3,000 bail and her freedom after she had spent six nights in jail, and warned that she must not be arrested for the same offence again.
Sokupa, 67, was allegedly caught on video issuing fake sick notes to an undercover Hawks officer.
This is Sokupa’s third brush with the law as she is out on bail for her May 2018 and April 2020 arrests for fraud and corruption and violating the Disaster Management Act respectively.
It is the state’s case that Sokupa issued fake sick notes to an undercover police agent on May 28. The court was told she charged between R350 and R400 for her “sick notes”.
Sokupa’s lawyer, Pumelele Hole, implored Magaxeni to take his client’s age into consideration. He said she was not a flight risk and held only SA citizenship.
“She is a person of advanced age, she is a permanent resident of East London within the jurisdiction of the court, she holds no other citizenship and will hand in her passport.”
Sokupa would not interfere with the investigations.
“She has a medical practice. There is no fear of her not standing trial and interfering with witnesses,” Hole said.
He argued that Sokupa had no previous convictions and that the court had granted bail on “numerous” cases to people who committed worse offences. However, state prosecutor Elna Smit argued that Sokupa was likely to commit the same offence again.
“She is well-known in our community and the media always reports about her when she gets arrested.
“She is not your typical granny. From her past conduct it is quite clear she will commit another schedule 1 offence.”
Smit read out a statement by the investigating officer, who said Sokupa was making a mockery of the justice system.
“She did not adhere to what was expected when she was released on bail the last time. The public will say how many chances does a person get, even if they are a doctor and 67 years old,” she said.
Despite Hawks investigating officer Lt-Col Raymond Buys testifying on Monday that Sokupa was caught on video issuing fake sick notes, Magaxeni ruled that it would be constitutionally offensive to keep her detained.
Magaxeni said the state had failed to present an open-andshut case that convinced her Sokupa did not deserve bail.
She said she had considered the time Sokupa had already spent in jail since last Thursday, the financial loss she would suffer due to her detention, her age and her state of health.
“At this point I believe the strength of the case is a 50/50 situation.”
She ordered Sokupa to hand in her passport and to report to the Fleet Street police station once a week until the case was finalised.
The case was postponed to September 23.