Kant of the Year runners-up: Matthew Lani and Tom Curry

“Dr” Matthew Lani

Fake it till your ass is dragged off to jail. This is what happened to Tik Tok “doctor” Matthew Lani, who was hauled off the wards of Helen Joseph Hospital with his stethoscope still around his neck for impersonating a doctor. Lani rose to social media stardom dispensing advice as if he were Chris Barnard. All it took was a stethoscope. He appeared on national television and was interviewed for an episode of Unpacked with Relebogile Mabotja. Charges of identity fraud and impersonating a doctor were withdrawn, but Lani has now really been unpacked and qualifies most certainly for the title.

Tom Curry

Everyone knows in South Africa that people who are not mother-tongue speakers of English do not resort to the word “c#nt” in a moment of heat. It is just not done. P#es, yes, that does slip out and even Jou Ma Se P#es. But tetchy England flanker Tom Curry accused Bok Bongi Mbonambi of calling him a “white c#nt” in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi­finals, despite many attempted explanations about multilingualism. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.