Page 24 - 25 Reasons

Dr Nothando Moyo-Mubayiwa on duty at Anglo American’s Sishen Mine’s health centre

s a child, Nothando Moyo-
Mubayiwa’s severe asthma attacks
saw her regularly taken to hospital DOCTOR
in the Zimbabwean city of
Bulawayo. Her family even referred
Ato her as “umafavuke” – isiNdebele
for “the one who dies and wakes up again”. Time
and again at Galen House Hospital’s casualty ward, ABOUT TOWN
the youngster’s breathing was restored.
“I would be almost dead at times, but, after
nebulisation [when medicine is converted into an
aerosol, which is inhaled directly into the lungs], I When it comes to the health of her community
could talk and play normally again,” she recalls. Dr Nothando Moyo-Mubayiwa is passionate
At the age of nine, she knew she wanted to be
a doctor. During school holidays, she shadowed about every one of her 30 000 patients.
their family doctor, the late Dr Gary Ferguson, at
Galen House. In 2006, she completed a Bachelor of Biénne Huisman visits her on her rounds in Kathu
Medicine and Surgery degree at the University of
Limpopo, graduating cum laude. She began her
career in Johannesburg in the emergency ward at It’s a big job, and one that prompted Moyo- Jack Russells, Dinky and Bobby.
Helen Joseph Hospital in Auckland Park. Mubayiwa to return to her books. This time, she The move was not without challenges, she says.
“There, the biggest lesson I learnt was the completed a two-year postgraduate diploma in “We had to find a new school for the boys and
power of teamwork,” she says. “Whenever a person occupational medicine and health at the University my husband had to find work in Kathu, which
required resuscitation, a sister would call out of Pretoria. took almost two years. I am so glad my husband
‘resus!’, and all medical staff on the floor would At Sishen’s Occupational Health Centre, she supported me – he has been the wind beneath
leave what they were doing and attend to the manages about 20 full-time staff members. my wings. Without him, I would not have been
person in need of resuscitation. A group of us Collectively, they oversee the health of more than able to accomplish all that I have.”
called ourselves the A team. We worked well 10 000 mine employees and their families. This And those accomplishments are significant.
together and did our utmost to improve a person’s brings her total patient count to about 30 000, At Sishen Mine, visitors and employees alike are
chance of living.” which includes patients from the nearby required to blow into breathalyser devices before
But the hours at the hospital were gruelling: communities. entering the premises. Employees who test
“When I was there, we were doing 12-hour shifts, She recalls: “I arrived in Kathu on a very cold positive for alcohol and drugs are retested. If they
and I was pregnant with my first child. I was first day of June in 2014 with my family. I had not test positive again within 10 minutes, a docket is
exhausted. I realised it wasn’t sustainable.” been to the Northern Cape before and we ended opened and a disciplinary hearing will follow.
Today, Moyo-Mubayiwa heads a new “A team” up getting horribly lost in Prieska [more than Inside Moyo-Mubayiwa’s office, bright pictures
in Kathu in the Northern Cape. Her focus now is 200km from Kathu] thanks to our GPS.” drawn by her sons and family photographs
on improving health in the workplace. Her official Moyo-Mubayiwa was joined in Kathu by liven the wall above her desk. There is also a
title is superintendent of occupational health and her husband Bruce Mubayiwa, their sons large chart mapping her division’s organisational
wellness at Sishen Mine. Lwandle (8) and Tanaka (6), and the family’s values: “Be on time”, “Treat all the same” and
24 ANGLO AMERICAN 25 REASONS TO BELIEVE