Sama says Mushi’s murder is ‘more of an assassination than a robbery gone wrong’

Following the tragic news of the fatal shooting of Dr Abdulhay Munshia, a prominent anaesthetist who was accused of culpable homicide, the South African Medical Association (Sama) on Thursday has described the incident as intentional.

The association said Munshi’s murder is “more of an assassination than a robbery gone wrong”.

Munshi was shot dead on Wednesday evening in Norwood.
Dr Abdulhay Munshia and Dr Peter Beale were accused in a culpable homicide case.

This was after their nine-year-old patient, Zayaan Sayed, died at Netcare’s Park Lane Clinic in October last year, hours after Beale performed what was meant to be a routine laparoscopic operation to stop reflux.

They were both granted R10,000 bail till their next appearance in November.

The medical fraternity suspect that the culpable homicide matter and Munshi’s murder could be linked.

Sama spokesperson Dr Angelique Coetzee on the matter said “it appears to be more of an assassination than a robbery gone wrong.”

“We are all aware of the case that was against him and the paediatric surgeon and these charges were, according to our sources, about to be dropped, based on the postmortem evidence,” said Coetzee.

She said the storm that accompanied this matter could make doctors get worried when it comes to treating certain patients.

“The low point of this is that doctors will in future check if a patient is politically connected or may be a high profile person out there because of fear of themselves being targeted and that will lead to poorer intervention and care,” said Coetzee.

Sama said it was hoping that justice would be served.

On Thursday, the police disclosed that no one has been arrested yet but they called on witnesses to come forward.