President Cyril Ramaphosa says the newly opened Dr. Pixley ka Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital in KwaMashu, Durban is the best in the South Africa.
Ramaphosa officially opened the hospital on Friday morning.
President @CyrilRamaphosa together with Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla cutting the ribbon officially opening the Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital in Kwamashu , Durban. #AccessToHealth #RoadToNHI #LeavingNoOneBehind #GrowingKZNTogether pic.twitter.com/mr5MEKEDTI
— KZN Provincial Gov (@kzngov) November 24, 2023
He says, “What we have done here is to build a model, a real model, regional hospital, a state of the art. It is the best that we have here in South Africa, that is being opened here is KwaZulu-Natal. This is also a day of remembering our iconic leader, Dr. Pixley ka Isaka Seme, we remember him fondly and we honour him today, we couldn’t have thought of a better name to give to this hospital.”
VIDEO: President Ramaphosa opens Dr Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital:
Specialised hospitals
The KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube says government is in the process of building specialised hospitals in areas that are far from cities.
Dube-Ncube says the hospital has specialists that are not available at district hospitals.
She says, “This is going to be another regional hospital with a very high tech in terms of medical technology that is available here in KZN, as well as in South Africa – but it also boasts very good specialists like you will find only in the Inkosi Albert Hospital.”
“We are bringing those facilities to the people where people are. There is going to be another one that is the JL Dube and another one for the northern areas and the King Edward is also being upgraded,” Dube-Ncube adds.
Oral health care
A dentist at the hospital says she is excited about offering people oral health care.
Dr. Nokwanda Mlotshwa says dentistry is a field that is often neglected.
Mlotshwa, who grew up in Ntuzuma near the hospital is happy that she will provide healthcare in an area in which she lives.
“We’re doing much more than just removing and extracting teeth, or just cleaning people’s teeth. We’re trying to save people’s teeth. I feel like that’s what we’re practicing, to save people’s teeth and I think bringing that to the public is a great step for the future,” she adds.
Dr Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital staff excited ahead of launch:
Additional reporting by Vusi Makhosini and Dries Liebenberg.
