The newly appointed acting superintendent of Mdazakane Kwa Zulu Hospital, Zukile Ndunge, looks uncomfortable in his office. The furniture is brand new, his desk is clear of papers and the swanky black Acer PC is not even switched on. The young doctor, who wears Levi jeans and a bright orange Supersport shirt has been in the top job at this 180-bed institution for just one month.
Zukile Ndunge, 27, Medical doctor, Mount Frere, Eastern CapeVote quote: “Other parties must not talk about moral credibility, if they were in power they would’ve had the same problems as the ANC.” (Photo: Paul Botes)
On the outskirts of the minute town of Mount Frere lies the Mdazakane hospital complex which serves dozens of villages in the area. It opened in 2005 and offers full medical services to the people of the area. The maternity unit is housed in a separate building and boasts state of the art equipment. Mothers and their newborns have spacious rooms and ample facilities. Ndunge, whose mother was a nurse, grew up in Bizane, a village outside Mthatha. He studied medicine at Walter Sisulu University before doing his internship at Mthatha hospital. He still calls Bizane home and this is where his fiancé is expecting a sibling for their firstborn, two-year-old Tshepo. But being the hospital boss is not his life ambition. He wants to study obstetrics.
“In my little experience I think there has been a bit of improvement in the health system in the former Transkei area. There’s no longer such a staff shortage and some of the procedures that had not been offered before, like Caesarean sections, are now being done, because there are enough people to do them.
Adding an extra year to community service and the policy forcing doctors to work in rural areas has benefited the Transkei area. In the past patients would have to go to city hospitals for certain [surgical] procedures, now they can get it here.
I have noticed how government is trying to improve the hospital environment. The Health Department has implemented the PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV) programme and they are now issuing ARVs.
Where government is failing is that often things are well-planned at the top level but go wrong when the money is given to people on the ground to spend — which sometimes ends up in their pockets. If there can be a good way to monitor, I think there will be a lot of improvement.
These corruption charges against Jacob Zuma are sad, but a person is not guilty until he is proven otherwise. Such charges are against him but we can’t judge, it is only the court system that can judge.
I’m not afraid to say I am ANC. I voted for the ANC in 2004 and will still vote for it, it is my party. It is the only party that I believe has brought some changes since it took leadership. Other parties talk about moral credibility, but if it was another party in power the same thing would’ve happened.
At the moment people are not provided with the health services they should have. Too many in rural areas still have to depend on the mobile clinic – which sometimes just doesn’t pitch. People have to travel a long way to hospital. They come early in the morning and by the time they get here it is 3pm and then it is the process of registration, and before they can even see a doctor it is 6pm.
What is common here is HIV and HIV-related infections. I have been the acting superintendent for a month, hopefully the position will be filled soon. It is such a hot seat, there are lots of issues here. I wasn’t born to be in an administrative position — I like to interact with patients. My dream is to go into obstetrics. I just developed the love for it, I love bringing small babies into this world.