In addition to the more than R1 billion that taxpayers have forked out to compensate patients for doctors' botched operations, there is another price for victims: the incalculable human cost.
A number of fed-up patients who claimed to have suffered in this way, said they felt neglected as there was no recourse against negligent medical professionals.
Former nurse Isabel Bourgeois is one of several Johannesburg women who suffered complications after being incorrectly fitted with a intra-uterine device that worsened her medical condition. She has been in a lot of pain requiring further treatment.
She told The Sunday Independent that since 2006 her complaint to the Health Professionals Council against her doctor has not been finalised.
"There have been phone calls, e-mails, visits to their offices, promises to investigate, but my case has not been closed. The council cannot find a single honest medical doctor prepared to stand against those who do wrong, in most cases, because these medical professionals play golf on Wednesday," she said. "Doctors are untouchable."
Information and technology specialist Gail Graham, who had a blossoming career at Microsoft, has had 23 operations in three years to repair damage she believes was caused during an operation in 2006 by Johannesburg urologist Warren Vickers, who has been the subject of at least 16 cases before the HPCSA.
On each occasion the Council has accepted his version of events. However, in the case of Graham, her nightmare continues, but she is pursuing a civil claim, alleging that the doctor perforated various pelvic organs during operations which were meant to correct weak pelvic floor muscles.
Graham told The Sunday Independent she had lost her job, her marriage had broken down and her children had been taken away from her since the "botched operation".
"It is not just the money but emotional trauma one cannot put a price on," she said.
"In the case of my doctor there have been 17 other complaints, surely alarm bells should be ringing at the council, or even medical aids, to see what the the problem is," she said.
Graham is also suing Graeme Naylor for pain and suffering.
"I was a patient who believed that the doctor was like a God, Naylor said since I had four children I should have an hysterectomy. Trusting him, I agreed. He said he'd contact Vickers, who would do (the pelvic floor operation) at the same time (as the hysterectomy)."
And he did, allegedly without meeting or examining Graham, either before or immediately after the operation.
"It was described as a simple procedure," she said. But it was the start of her pain and suffering.
Graham's first operation - the combined hysterectomy and prolapse surgery - was performed in October. She has since undergone several reconstructive operations, including expensive plastic surgery to repair scar tissue. She is still in a lot of pain and fears she may need another operation.
Robert Simmonds complained in a letter to the HPCSA four years ago about his experience at the hands of respected Park Lane Clinic urologist Louis Gus Gecelter - famous for operating on former president Nelson Mandela while he was in prison.
Simmonds said he could not sue Gecelter because no-one, not even the urologist who had to do four reconstructive operations to repair the damage he had done, would testify against him.
Simmonds said he went to Lance Coetzee, senior urologist at the Pretoria Urology Hospital, who described as "ludicrous" the removal of scrotal skin to treat testicular pain.
Reiterating what most other specialists had said, Coetzee said this procedure was rarely performed as "you get results like this".
Simmonds said he believed that Gecelter did not form a proper diagnosis and undertaken a rare procedure from which he may never recover.
"My experience with Dr Gecelter at Park Lane Clinic contrasted sharply with the professionalism with which I was received at the Pretoria Urology Hospital. It is in this context that I lodge this complaint with the HPCSA," Simmonds wrote.
In another letter to the HPSCA last year Simmonds said the system allowed a patient to be seriously injured by a doctor, "in my case involving the loss of a previously healthy organ that was part of my body - while the HPCSA effectively gives the doctor a pat on the back allowing (him) to walk away and continue injuring other patients".
HPCSA spokesperson Lize Nel said the council denied allegations that it was protecting healthcare practitioners.
HPCSA Committees of Formal Inquiry, by law, consist of healthcare practitioners, community representatives and independent legal assessors to ensure objectivity.
"There are a number of healthcare practitioners with various complaints against them. As per our regulations, each complaint is dealt with individually and, due to the legal processes, it takes an average about 18 months to conclude, which, in a legal environment, is not unduly long."
Ombudsman Abdul Barday said the council did not favour doctors but looked after the interests of patients.
He said new regulations would see civilians sitting on statutory bodies to ensure patients' rights were strengthened.