Viral TikToker renowned as ‘Dr Matthew Lani’ has been a trending topic on social media recently, particularly due to growing questions about his supposed medical qualifications.
UPDATE; Shortly after this article was published, Wits University released this statement regarding Matthew Lani’s enrolment:
Read the original story below.
Who is ‘Dr Matthew Lani’?
The young social media influencer with more than 250,000 followers on TikTok came under the microscope of web sleuths after several of his videos surfaced on X (formerly Twitter).
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The Joburg-based content creator’s incredible tale of overcoming grave misfortune and rising to become a prominent health and wellness activist was too good to be true for social media sherlocks who took every word he uttered with a grain of salt.
Very quickly, Matthew’s inspiring story that propelled his brand to the forefront of HIV/AIDS activism was undone by inconsistencies and, more shocking, accusations of identity theft.
THE HIV STORY THAT LAUNCHED THE ‘DR MATTHEW LANI’ BRAND
The earliest record of ‘Dr Matthew Lani’ can be traced to 23 November 2021, when he appeared as a guest on Episode 47 of Relebogile Mabotja’s Unpacked talk show.
In this episode, Matthew detailed a gut-wrenching account of how he was deliberately infected with HIV/AIDS by his ex-partner, who allegedly weaponised the virus as a sordid act of revenge.
The validity of this claim remains untested. Alas, considering South Africa’s alarming HIV infection rates, observed in tandem with his status as a member of an oppressed group, Matthew’s story contained the perfect recipe for social media stardom.
The young socialite became the poster child for HIV/AIDS awareness. In December 2021, Matthew scored an interview with The Matthew Masango Show, a programme syndicated on Radio 702 and Cape Talk, where he further proliferated his narrative and consequently grew an audience of empaths.
At the time, several interesting developments were taking shape behind the scenes.
Firstly, the young content creator identified himself as 24-year-old Matthew Lani in several high-profile engagements, a crucial factor in the mystery surrounding his identity we will revisit later.
Secondly, Matthew had, at the time, launched a couple of fundraisers under his ‘Greater Than AIDS Africa’ non-profit organisation (NGO), which, on the surface, failed to attract donations.
The first campaign, titled “NO SHAME IN BEING HIV-POSITIVE” and posted on 23 August 2021, three months before his viral Unpacked interview, had an R10 000 fundraising goal, which he needed to spearhead his revolutionary ‘Linked To Care’ program.
Seven months later, after his Click n Donate campaign failed to garner traction, Matthew’s NGO launched another fundraiser, this time on Backabuddy, with an R12 000 goal aimed at providing sanitary packages to impoverished schools and “educating young girls about sexual health, teenage pregnancy, [and] statutory rape.”
HOW TIKTOK CATAPULTED ‘DR MATTHEW LANI’ INTO SOCIAL MEDIA STARDOM
When it seemed Matthew’s attempts at garnering traction for his activism were futile, the rapid spread of TikTok as a popular social media platform with immense reach, especially in South Africa, changed everything for the self-proclaimed ‘medical doctor’.
In June 2022, Matthew took his HIV story to TikTok and very quickly, his videos spread like wildfire.
Matthew’s story was so impactful, that he was highlighted by the Gauteng Health Department in its 2022 Youth Day campaign. Following the recent saga surrounding Matthew’s qualifications and claims of being a medical doctor, the department has since deleted the promo video from its pages.
Is Matthew Lani a scammer?
Matthew’s social media stardom continued on its ascending course and for the most part, his openness about living with HIV was a source of inspiration and motivation for many young South Africans diagnosed with the virus.
More prominently, though, Matthew’s lifestyle tips and advice, proliferated as a means of promoting third-party products sold by FUTURELIFE, was validated by his status as a medical doctor. Or, was he?
Questions quickly arose when in his later TikTok videos, several inconsistencies came to the fore.
Firstly, Matthew used the ‘M.D.’ title to designate his status as an alleged medical professional.
M.D. stands for “Doctor of Medicine.” It’s a degree designation used primarily in the United States, Canada, and some other countries.
The degree is awarded to medical students upon completion of medical school, and it signifies that the holder is a qualified physician.
In South Africa, the process of becoming a medical doctor is slightly different.
Here’s an outline of the process:
- Undergraduate Medical Education:
- In South Africa, aspiring doctors begin their medical education with an undergraduate medical degree such as a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBCh) which usually takes six years to complete.
- Internship:
- Upon completing their undergraduate medical education, graduates are required to complete a two-year internship under supervision in designated hospitals where they rotate through various medical and surgical specialities.
- Community Service:
- Following the internship, there’s a mandatory one-year community service in a state hospital or rural clinic, to provide medical care in underserved areas.
- Specialisation and Further Education:
- After fulfilling the internship and community service requirements, doctors have the option to specialise in a particular field of medicine. Specialisation involves additional years of training, and doctors may pursue Master of Medicine (M.Med) degrees in their chosen specialities.
- Some might choose to pursue further qualifications such as the Fellowship of the College of Surgeons or Physicians, or even a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, which in South Africa is a higher doctoral degree involving research and a thesis, akin to a PhD in medicine.
- Registration with HPCSA:
- Throughout this process, doctors must register with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) which is the regulatory body for medical practitioners in the country.
According to the information we sourced, Matthew allegedly undertook a medical undergraduate degree at Wits University between 2014 and 2021.
Taking into account his claim that on Monday, 9 October 2023, he turned 25 (another questionable factor surrounding the mystery of his identity), Matthew would have been 16 years old when he enrolled for the MBBCh programme, suggesting, of course, that he completed matric at 15.
Coincidentally, when a user probed the self-proclaimed doctor about his matric certificate, Matthew had an interesting rebuttal:
According to Matthew, without a valid matric certificate verified by Umalusi, he miraculously managed to get enrolled into Wits University’s medical undergrad programme using his high school diploma from Cambridge University.
To be clear, Cambridge University does not provide high school diplomas as it is a higher education institution.
We contacted Wits University’s Health faculty to verify Matthew’s claims but did not receive a response when this article was published.
Moreover, questions linger about the viral TikToker’s real identity. On social media, in interviews and online campaigns, he is known as Matthew Lani.
However, in this TikTok clip, posted in response to the backlash over his alleged falsities, Matthew insisted that ‘Lani’ was an alias he used to mask his true identity.
Looking past the claim he made about adhering to the Health Professions Council of South Africa’s (HPCSA) social media guidelines, which, in fact, contain several ethical codes he regularly flouts, Matthew did not explicitly state his true identity.
However, shortly after questions about his profession arose, a LinkedIn profile with the name Dr Matthew Sanele Zingelwa and a picture he used as social media collateral for his failed NGO awareness campaigns surfaced.
At eye level, this could be a mere coincidence. But, taken in context, web sleuths weren’t remiss in suspecting foul play, considering an actual medical professional named Sanele Zingelwa has been actively pursuing a case against Matthew for identity theft.
Despite several red flags, Matthew maintains his status as a medical doctor and insists he is employed in the healthcare sector, albeit refusing to share where he works.
Interestingly, though, the content creator, shared that for his 25th birthday (his actual age may be 27, considering he was documented as a 24-year-old in several 2021 interviews and fundraisers launched in that year), he launched Afri-Bloom, a Shopify store selling health and skincare products.
We conducted a scan of the website and, on more than one occasion, found several images taken from other online stores.
An attempt was made to reach Matthew but a response was not returned when this article was published.
