/ 27 November 2006

‘Pregnant’ man’s antics leave SA court stone cold

A young South African was on Monday fined by a local court for playing hooky from work and trying to cover it with a fake gynaecologist’s certificate attesting he was pregnant and needed a week off.

A magistrate’s court in Vereeniging, near Johannesburg, fined 27-year-old Charles Sibindana R1 000 for the brazen forgery, the South African Press Association news agency reported.

Sibindana stole a medical certificate from a health centre used by his pregnant girlfriend but was apparently unaware that only women consulted gynaecologists.

Magistrate Bruno van Eeden jokingly warned Sibindana “not to walk around faking sick letters from gynaecologists”. — AFP