Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Judith Mkwanda Ncube
BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Judith Mkwanda Ncube has applauded Cimas Health Group for renaming its Bulawayo Medical Centre after renowned medical pioneer, the late Dr Sipho Leonard Vivian Zwana.
The facility was officially renamed the Sipho Zwana Medical Centre at a ceremony held in Bulawayo this Wednesday, with Minister Ncube describing the move as much more than a change of the name of a building.
She said the decision ensured that the contribution of one of Zimbabwe’s distinguished medical pioneers would remain part of the country’s institutional memory while inspiring future generations of healthcare professionals.
“It is a great honour to join you today here in Bulawayo for an occasion that is about much more than changing the name of a building.
“We are deliberately placing the name, work and memory of one of Zimbabwe’s distinguished medical pioneers in a place where future generations of health professionals, patients and members of the public will encounter it every day,” said Minister Ncube.
Ncube said the renaming was a powerful way of ensuring that the achievements of those who helped build Zimbabwe’s health system were not forgotten.
“Today, we are saying that the contribution of those who built Zimbabwe’s health system must not fade with time.
“We affirm that excellence deserves to be remembered,” she said.
Dr Zwana, who was born in 1933, qualified as a medical doctor from the University of Natal Medical School in South Africa in 1960 and went on to make history in Zimbabwe’s medical profession.
He became the first black Zimbabwean anaesthetist after obtaining a Diploma of Fellowship in the Faculty of Anaesthetics of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1970.
He was also the first black doctor to serve at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo and later served as Medical Superintendent of Parirenyatwa Hospital and United Bulawayo Hospitals.
His career also took him to the United Kingdom, Ghana and Kenya before he retired in 2013 after 52 years in medicine.
He died on February 16, 2019.
Ncube said Dr Zwana’s life demonstrated that circumstances should not determine the extent of an individual’s contribution.
“Dr Zwana’s generation faced barriers that many of us today may struggle to fully appreciate. Yet he chose to enter a profession that was demanding, specialised and at the time, not easily accessible to black Zimbabweans.
“He did not merely enter the profession. He excelled. He served. That is the lesson we must carry forward,” she said.
The Minister specifically commended Cimas for choosing to honour the late doctor in a permanent and meaningful way.
“I therefore commend Cimas Health Group for making the decision to honour Dr Zwana in this permanent and meaningful way. A plaque can commemorate a person. A building can keep their name alive, but the greatest tribute is the values that person stood for to continue influencing how we work,” she said.
Cimas Health Group CEO Vuli Ndlovu speaks
Cimas Health Group Chief Executive Officer Vuli Ndlovu said the organisation considered the renaming a profound honour and responsibility, particularly because the Zwana family had entrusted Cimas with preserving the doctor’s name and legacy.
“Today, a family gives something to a company. They are giving us a name, and once we accept it, we can never give it back. That is the weight of this occasion,” Ndlovu said.
He said Cimas was honoured to associate its institution with a man whose 52 years of service represented excellence, humility and a deep commitment to patient care.
Ndlovu drew parallels between Dr Zwana’s work as an anaesthetist and Cimas’ role in healthcare, saying both were centred on providing care that people often only notice when something goes wrong.
“Our best days are our invisible days: the emergency quietly covered, the surgery that simply proceeded, the family not ruined by an illness they could never have predicted.
“This organisation has been holding that position for eight decades, and today we are naming a building after the man who taught us what it looks like when it is done perfectly.”
Ndlovu said the renaming was not simply an act of sentiment, but a deliberate effort to preserve history and ensure that Dr Zwana’s story continued to reach future generations.
“A naming is not a reward; he is far beyond rewarding. A naming is not sentiment; sentiment fades by Christmas. A naming is infrastructure for memory.
“It is the deliberate act of placing a story where it cannot be quietly lost-into brick, into signage, into a referral letter, into the way a mother in Nkulumane tells her daughter where to go.”
Ndlovu thanked the Zwana family for allowing Cimas to carry the doctor’s name and legacy.
“To the Zwana family, thank you. Thank you for lending him to this city for a lifetime, and for lending him to us now, for as long as this institution endures,” he said.
Minister Ncube said the renaming also reflected the important role played by private healthcare providers in complementing Government’s efforts to strengthen Zimbabwe’s health system.
She noted that Cimas, which has been operating for 80 years, has expanded beyond medical aid to provide healthcare and wellness services, including clinics, laboratory services, pharmacy operations and wellness programmes.
“Cimas Health Group as a private healthcare provider complements this national responsibility.
“This partnership between the public and private sectors is critical because the health needs of our population are growing and becoming more complex.”
She said the newly named Sipho Zwana Medical Centre should serve both as a monument to a medical pioneer and as a challenge to future generations.
“Let the Sipho Zwana Medical Centre be both a monument to a pioneer, and a mandate for us to do more,” Ncube said.
“That is how we truly honour 52 years of service. That is how we build the next 100 years of healing,” added Minister Ncube.
