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28

M U T

S P I R I T

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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0

Celebrating Martha Buthelezi’s contribution to the MUT

Clinic

It was in 1994 when Martha Buthelezi joined MUT

as a Student Health Officer to focus specifically on

delivering health services to students. Martha was

already a seasoned healthcare professional with over

20 years’ experience. She had worked as a nurse for

10 years at Madadeni Hospital, three years at the Don

McKenzie Hospital, over three years at the Tongaat

Community Clinic, three years in industry, and a year

in Nkandla Hospital as an educator.

“I was recruited strictly for student health services but

I knew in my mind that you cannot deny other people

these health services,” she said. The MUT clinic in

those days, explained Martha, was located in Block C

and operated more like a first aid room.

“I thought it was a big elephant; one bite at a time.

When I came, I had my own vision of what I wanted to

do. I started running the clinic before it was registered

because I had a background in running clinics. My

experience in Tongaat gave me that,” she said.

Martha started the process of getting the MUT Clinic

registered as a comprehensive health service provider.

She recruited a general assistant and enlisted the

services of Dr Zodwa Ngobese, as the clinic was

required to have a visiting doctor as part of its staff.

Martha explained that the Clinic was important

in dealing with health issues as a result of where it

was located. The Clinic attended to many student

medical emergencies, so much so that it acquired an

ambulance for transporting students to the nearby

Prince Mshiyeni Hospital. It also served the family

planning needs of students, along with attending to

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and Sexually

Transmitted Diseases (STD).

In these early days of the MUT Clinic, HIV and AIDS

was also becoming a significant problem in higher

education. MUT rolled out the Higher Education

AIDS Programme to help fight the AIDS epidemic

and help students graduate alive. “In 1994 the death

of students was related to politics,” said Martha. “In

1997 the trend had changed; deaths were caused by

‘natural causes’ because they would not reveal what

caused the deaths.”

Everything changed in 2000 when the West Wing

administration building, where the MUT Clinic is

currently located, was constructed. As part of the

University’s efforts to deliver quality healthcare to

students, the MUT Clinic was designed to look like

other clinics.

Martha worked at the MUT Clinic for 20 years before she

retired. She continues to consult on occupational health.

Sister Martha Buthelezi