Staff members at the Student Health Clinics commemorated the passing of anti-apartheid struggle veteran, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
The Student Health Clinic on the Bellville Campus lit a candle against the backdrop of a photograph of the icon and the South African national flag. The candle was lit for the two weeks leading up to the funeral day.
“The candle is strategically placed at the main entrance to the Clinic to remember her as the Mother of the Nation who stood firm for her people through many trials and tribulations,” said Andries Slinger, acting Head of the Campus Health Clinics.
Slinger added that Madikizela-Mandela was a Clinical Social Worker by profession and that the clinic wished to commemorate and acknowledge her for the sterling work she did for the profession.
“She was the first black member of staff to fill the position of Medical Social Worker at the now Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.”
He stated that caring for the sick and destitute is the core business of the clinic and that this is the value that stood out in Madikizela-Mandela’s legacy.
“Mam Winnie was banished to a small Free State town called Brandfort where she established a clinic, also referred to as a Health Unit, a Day Care Centre and a Soup Kitchen.”
He added that the Student Health Clinic would like to build on her caring legacy which was unmatched in the Democratic South Africa.
“Mam Winnie did outstanding work as a researcher during the late 1950s, most notable is her research that she conducted in the Alexandra Township where she found that the Infant Mortality Rate was an astronomical 10 deaths per 1 000 Live Births and was cause for alarm”.
Slinger said the research was significant in obstetrics because it highlighted the need for care for infants as well as establishing the cause of death amongst infants.
