The Thohoyandou Magistrate´s Court, which is usually empty, was packed to capacity on Monday during the appearance of a well-known Vhembe medical doctor.

The doctor has been charged with the rape of a 21-year old patient, who had come to seek medical help at his surgery at Makhuvha outside Thohoyandou.

Dr Justice Mulaudzi’s formal bail application was postponed to Thursday (yesterday).

Spectators, amongst them fellow church members and colleagues from the hospital where he works, waited since the morning until his name was called after teatime.

In an appearance that took less than 10 minutes, the prosecution and the accused´s defence agreed that the matter be postponed to Thursday for a formal bail application.

Mulaudzi (40), who is a senior official at Hayani Hospital, appeared before Magistrate Luckson Ramavhale. Prosecutor Mashudu did not waste time and asked for a seven-day postponement, saying there were still issues that police would like to investigate before they could start with the formal bail application.

For the accused, Adv Anton Ramaano said the issues should have been disclosed to them on September 29, but he was surprised to learn of the "issues" in court. After consultations with the magistrate, all the parties agreed for the bail application to be held on Thursday.

Mulaudzi first appeared on Thursday last week and his case was postponed to Monday for a bail application. His arrest and subsequent appearance is a sequel to an incident that happened at his consulting rooms, where the woman is alleged to have been raped.

The victim, a woman from Thengwe in the Mutale area, is alleged to have complained of flue. Mulaudzi allegedly told her to undress, so that he could examine her. While busy examining her, Mulaudzi is said to have raped her, whereupon she jumped from the bed and noticed that she had been penetrated. She apparently shouted for help, whereupon nurses came to her aid and the police were summoned.

Responding to the allegations, Dr Phophi Ramathuba from South African Medical Association said a person should not be judged guilty until proven otherwise in a court of law. She said as people in the medical fraternity they felt ashamed of the report as the incident compromised the profession. She said they would wait for the law to take its course.