20 years in jail for clinic’s car mechanic ‘doctor’.

A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for performing illegal abortions on two women.

Last week Yusuff Sekamaya, a Ugandan, appeared in the Potchefstroom regional court and pleaded guilty on two charges of contravening the Abortion Act.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison on each charge, of which two years on each charge was suspended.

Police said Sekamaya was arrested on January 21 for operating an illegal abortion clinic in the town’s central business district. He appeared in the Potchefstroom magistrate’s court on January 22 and the case was postponed to last Wednesday to the regional court. Sekamaya pleaded guilty to the two counts and was sentenced the same day.

Inspector Kevin Pretorius, who led the investigation, said this week: “The arrest came after social workers at the local hospital brought to the attention of the police that eight cases of post- abortion complications had been reported there within a week.

“One of the women had to have her womb removed because of complications.”

The services of the so-called “professor” and “doctor” were widely advertised on lampposts and pamphlets, which were handed out on the streets.

For R1200, Sekamaya promised clients a good service, depending on how far the pregnancy was.

“He operated from two buildings in the CBD, advertising himself as a doctor, professor, herbalists and traditional healer,” said Pretorius.

The “clinics” were regular offices with no medical equipment. They were filthy with a bad odour in the air.

The pregnant women who wanted their pregnancies terminated were given medication to induce abortions. Although they were charged about R1200, Sekamaya bought the tablets for R5 in Uganda, said Pretorius.

He said Sekamaya had no medical qualifications, but a certificate as an auto mechanic.

The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act No 92 of 1996 Section (2)(1) reads: “The termination of a pregnancy may only be carried out by a medical practitioner during the first 12 weeks of the gestation period of the pregnancy, which may also be carried out by a registered midwife who has completed the prescribed training course.

“After 12 weeks the pregnancy can be terminated if continued pregnancy poses a risk of injury to the woman’s physical or mental health. If the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest or the pregnancy would significantly affect the social or economic circumstances of the woman.”

Abortion was legalised in 1997.

Abortions are free at clinics and hospitals around the country.

Marie Stopes, a government- approved health facility, has performed 224345 abortions since the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act became effective in 1997.

In 2007, 32156 clients were served nationally, which equates to about 2680 clients per month and 103 clients per day. Last year, 36507 women were attended to at the clinics countrywide.

Dr Susan Humpel of Potchefstroom Hospital says: “If there are women out there who think that they are pregnant and have doubts about keeping the baby, come to the hospital and we will help you decide the unwanted pregnancy.

“The hospital is the safest place where unwanted pregnancies can be terminated for free. It is a 10-minute procedure and a patient is released immediately. Patients are offered pre- and post-abortion counselling.”

Police spokesman Superintendent Lesego Metsi flayed backstreet abortions.

“We are going to make sure we prevent unnecessary deaths of pregnant women and innocent babies,” Metsi warned sternly.

Marie Stopes national spokesman Laila Abbas says their costs vary from centre to centre. Pricing also varies depending on the gestational age – the number of weeks of the pregnancy.

“Pricing is also different depending on whether the patient opts for a medical (pills) or surgical (MVA) procedure. Prices can range from R600 to R3260. We also have subsidised clinics in the Eastern Cape with pricing ranging from R270 to R1120.

The clinics offer counselling.

“Absolutely, it is part of Marie Stopes protocol to discuss contraceptive methods with our clients. This is normally done during the counselling session. We are not judgmental, hence we cannot tell our clients to be more responsible.

“However, the termination is discussed and we ensure that the clients are told that they should definitely not see this termination as a contraceptive method. We also encourage our clients to leave with some form of contraception.

“A lot of women go to the backstreet abortions because they are afraid of being recognised. Most of these women are poor and they live far from the clinics and hospitals.

“In most cases, women go there because they are more than 20 weeks into their pregnancies – and the law does not allow abortion after that period.”