North Gauteng High Court has dismissed Dr Wouter Basson’s application for a permanent stay of his Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) disciplinary hearing. Judge Irene de Vos stated the charges are serious. Basson, former head of the apartheid era’s chemical and biological warfare programme, faces four charges.
The 75-year-old cardiologist Dr Wouter Basson, who runs a thriving private practice in Cape Town, faces HPCSA charges related to the production of substances including Mandrax, MDMA and tear gas on a major scale, the weaponisation of CR gas in mortars used in Angola, manufacturing substances to tranquillise and kidnap POWs in Namibia, and distributing cyanide capsules to special units.
Judge Irene de Vos dismissed Basson’s application last week, noting that the charges are serious and “tip the scales against granting a permanent stay”.
The South African Medical Association (Sama) calls for his removal from the register. “Accountability in medicine is not subject to expiry. Medical ethics apply in all contexts, including military service,” said chairperson Dr Mzulungile Nodikida.
Basson headed Project Coast, disbanded in 1995. He was acquitted in 2002 on 67 charges by Judge Willie Hartzenberg, despite a 2014 HPCSA finding of misconduct that he later successfully challenged.
