A Health Professions Council of South Africa hearing into the alleged professional misconduct of a Pretoria plastic surgeon on Monday ruled that proceedings should be in camera and the media was barred.
Professor Koos (JF) Scholtz, according to HPCSA papers put before the inquiry, allegedly performed reconstructive surgery on a Waterkloof woman without informing her of the possible complications associated with the operation.
He is also charged with neglecting to attend to her complaints in the post-operative period.
Scholtz performed surgery to remove unsupported fatty tissue from the woman's eyelids in 1990.
She returned to Scholtz five years later because she was not happy with the results. She claims he removed too much skin from her eyelids during the second operation and that the botched facelift had left her permanently disfigured. Scholtz has denied he was negligent.
The order for the media to leave the inquiry came after Dr Abdul Barday, chairperson of the professional misconduct inquiry, ruled that the patient testify in camera.
Barday made the order after the patient's legal representative, Jaco Goosen, told the hearing that his client's case would be prejudiced if her testimony was made public.
He said his client was under "extreme pressure" and was opposed to testifying in a public forum.
Barday, after deliberation with the committee, agreed, saying in-camera testimony would be in the best interests of the patient.
He ordered that the woman, who has filed a R4-million damages claim against Scholtz in the Pretoria High Court, not be identified. The civil case is due to be heard in October.
In response to Barday's ruling, counsel for Scholtz, Salie Joubert, requested Scholtz's testimony also be heard in camera. Barday ordered that Scholtz's testimony be heard in camera, but made no reference to the publishing of his identity.
He also ordered that Scholtz's plea not be made public. "This hearing will be in camera in its entirety, after which the findings will be published," he said.