An orthopaedic surgeon, facing charges of raping and indecently assaulting some of his patients, is still practising despite international norms which make provision for the suspension of medical practitioners if they are under investigation for such crimes.
The case against Johannes Albertus Volsteedt, 52, of Durbanville, working at the Louis Leipoldt Hospital in
Bellville, was postponed in the Bellville Regional Court on Tuesday after a woman he allegedly raped could not continue her testimony because she suffered from severe backache.
Volsteedt is charged with rape and 16 counts of indecent assault dating back to 1978 after 11 female patients came forward with allegations that he had indecently assaulted them.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is out on bail of R5 000.
The 47-year-old witness from Grassy Park, who claimed Volsteedt had raped her after inserting his fingers in her vagina during a medical examination, sat shaking in the witness stand answering questions under cross examination about the circumstances which led to the alleged rape.
All the while, a monitor from the Women's Legal Centre was watching the proceedings closely.
Michelle O'Sullivan, director of the centre, told the Cape Times on Tuesday that in almost every country in the world it was accepted procedure for health professional councils to make provision for the suspension of its members if they were facing charges of this type.
The centre is putting pressure on the Health Professionals Council of South Africa to have Volsteedt suspended and is also lobbying for a separate disciplinary hearing into the allegations against him.
O'Sullivan said that although the council would usually hold these hearings after a criminal trial, there was a good chance the inquiry could take place in September.
On Tuesday, the victim of the alleged rape said she could not remember most of the circumstances of her appointment with Volsteedt, whom she consulted for injuries to her back and legs.
She said she was arranging her son's funeral which took place the day after her appointment.
"I was in a state of panic. If you had known what I was going through at the time ... I was shocked, devastated. I concentrated more on the rape than the surroundings and circumstances that day," she said.
Magistrate Andre le Grange warned Volsteedt's counsel, Graham van der Spuy to get to the point and said "you have been running in circles for the past half an hour ... You either have to raise your level of argument or this case will go on for days."
The case was postponed after the lunch adjournment when the woman complained that her backache made it difficult for her to testify.
She said she had taken medication for her pain during lunch.
Annette de Lange appeared for the state. Van der Spuy is instructed by Diana Pfaff of MacRobert De Villiers Lunnon &
Tindall.
The case continues on Wednesday.