Traditional Health Practitioners Act, 2004 (Act No. 35 of 2004)Chapter 5 : General and Supplementary Provisions49. Offences |
| (1) | A person who is not registered as a traditional health practitioner or as a student in terms of this Act is guilty of an offence if he or she— |
| (a) | for gain practises as a traditional health practitioner, whether or not purporting to be registered; |
| (b) | for gain— |
| (i) | physically examines any person; |
| (ii) | performs any act of diagnosing, treating or preventing any physical defect, illness or deficiency in respect of any person; |
| (iii) | advises any person on his or her physical or mental state; |
| (iv) | by reason of information provided by any person or obtained from such person in any manner whatsoever— |
| (aa) | diagnoses such person’s physical or mental state; |
| (bb) | advises such person on his or her physical or mental state; |
| (cc) | supplies or sells to or prescribes for such person any traditional medicine or treatment; |
| (v) | prescribes or provides any traditional medicine, substance or thing; or |
| (vi) | performs any other act specially pertaining to the profession; |
| (c) | except in accordance with any other law, performs any act having as its object— |
| (i) | the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any physical defect, illness or deficiency in any person; and |
| (ii) | obtaining by virtue of the performance of such act, either for himself or herself or for any other person, any benefit by way of deriving profit from the sale or disposal of any traditional medicine, foodstuff or substance or by way of any donation or gift or by way of providing accommodation, or obtaining, either for himself or herself or for any other person, any gain whatsoever; |
| (d) | pretends, or holds himself or herself out, to be a traditional health practitioner or student (whether or not purporting to be registered), of whatever description, of physical defects, illnesses or deficiencies; |
| (e) | uses the name of traditional health practitioner, student, healer or doctor or any name, title, description or symbol indicating, or calculated to lead persons to infer, that he or she is the holder of any qualification as a traditional health practitioner or of any other qualification enabling him or her to diagnose, treat or prevent physical defects, illnesses or deficiencies, or that he or she is registered under this Act as a traditional health practitioner or a student; |
| (f) | except in accordance with any other law, by words, conduct or demeanour holds himself or herself out to be able, qualified or competent to diagnose, treat or prevent physical defects, illnesses or deficiencies or to prescribe or supply any traditional medicine, substance or thing in respect of such defects, illnesses or deficiencies; or |
| (g) |
| (i) | diagnoses, treats or offers to treat, or prescribes treatment or any cure for, cancer, HIV and AIDS or any other prescribed terminal disease; |
| (ii) | holds himself or herself out to be able to treat or cure cancer, HIV and AIDS or any other prescribed terminal disease or to prescribe treatment therefor; or |
| (iii) | holds out that any article, compound, traditional medicine or apparatus is or may be of value for the alleviation, curing or treatment of cancer, HIV and AIDS or any other prescribed terminal disease. |
| (2) | For the purposes of subsection (1) ‘‘cancer’’ includes all neoplasms, irrespective of their origin, including lymphoma and leukaemia. |
| (3) | A person who is not registered as a traditional health practitioner, is guilty of an offence if he or she— |
| (a) | pretends to be so registered in respect of such occupation; or |
| (b) | uses any name declared by regulation to be a name which may not be used. |
| (4) | A person found guilty of an offence in terms of this section is liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months or to both a fine and such imprisonment. |
| (5) | This section does not apply to a medical practitioner or dentist contemplated in the Health Professions Act, 1974 (Act No. 56 of 1974). |