Cape Town - The “African morning star” Professor Bongani Mayosi is indeed multiplying, with medical graduate Lindani Mkhabela, who not only resembles Mayosi’s academic excellence but his altruistic values, vowing to keep his legacy alive.
Makhabela, a University of KwaZulu-Natal Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) graduate was the recipient of the prestigious Bongani Mayosi Award.
The awards recognise final-year medical students who epitomise the academic, and selfless life of the late dean and world-renowned cardiologist.
MBChB students from universities across the country select a classmate who in their opinion is skilled in balancing academic excellence, interpersonal skills and social accountability.
Mkhabela, 24, came from humble beginnings in KwaZulu-Natal, raised in a woman-headed household where the value of humanity and love for education was instilled in him.
When he was not at home after school assisting with chores, he was tutoring his peers. “I assisted the teachers with after-school classes because I wanted to see my peers also pass well.
This was all free but paid off when I needed to stay near the school, the principal offered me one of the school cottages. This was because my house was about 50 km from the school, my mother was unemployed and my grandmother could no longer afford the scholar transport.
“I cooked once a week and had to ensure that food sustained me, even at UKZN it was not easy. My late teacher who motivated me a lot advised me to apply for medicine due to the career opportunities,
initially the dream was to become an accountant,” said Mkhabela.
He was a top achiever in the class of 2016 in Hluhluwe’s Big Five Hlabisa Municipality and received the Mayoral Award. The aspiring cardiologist was nominated for the Bongani Mayosi Award for the active role he played as an academic mentor and tutor for Internal Medicine and to third-year students transitioning from Laboratory to Clinical Medicine.
He was also part of the Surgical Students Society in 2018 and the Clinical Laboratory Programme in 2022.
He was also in a leadership Forum where they conducted seminars to help fellow students acquire skills such as improving emotional intelligence and money management skills which were not included in the academic curriculum.
“My journey is a testimony of resilience and there is still a long way to go. My goal has always been to change the situation at home and make a difference with the resources I have no matter how small. It is a privilege and an honour to receive an award from the foundation of someone I highly respect and look up to.
Professor Mayosi was extraordinary, there are many specialists but the quality does not match the quantity. He and Christiaan Barnard were among the few of quality.
That’s my dream, to leave such a mark,” he said.
The 24-year-old currently interning at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Eastern Cape hopes to further his studies at UCT next year.
The Bongani Mayosi Foundation was established to commemorate and advance Mayosi’s vision to “lift as you rise” and ensure that his work continues through successive generations of medical graduates and clinician scientists.
Mayosi's widow, Professor Nonhlanhla Khumalo said: “The idea was to create an alumni of young doctors that are aspiring to have the qualities that Bongani encapsulated for health.
South Africa needs more good stories and more Bongani Mayosi, people who are public-minded, want to raise the country’s flag up high and love their patients so much that they want to advance their care with the best expertise.”
Khumalo hoped that this kind of acknowledgement in the award would be an encouragement for aspiring health practitioners.
“I think every inspirational person doesn’t just wake up with the mindset or goal of being inspirational but the mindset to do better. That leads to recognition. These awards are also in line with Bongani’s aim to build capacity in the intelligentsia and academics.
There is still a need for highly skilled and quality experts who can solve Africa's child problems. Our aim is to build a community around them where the foundation can create a network of support, mentors who are seniors and have achieved even more,” Khumalo said.
The foundation is also building the Bongani Mayosi Community; the professor had supervised many PHD students, encouraging people from all walks of life in medicine. He wrote letters of support and applied for funding for people to advance their studies abroad through his networks.
"It was Professor Mayosi’s vision to raise support to have trained 1000 PHD students in 10 years in all spheres of health care.”
Khumalo said they were now planning to launch the Alumni Association of the Bongani Mayosi National Students Prize in Johannesburg, this will be in partnership with Standard Bank for financial education.
Cape Times
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