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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