Developing a sense of ubuntu, Madiba-style

Published Nov 25, 2016

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Johannesburg - Sibongile Mkhabela, the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, came bustling into the empty family room at the quiet hospital for an interview ahead of the facility's official opening on December 2.

Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5, 2013, so the upcoming date of the launch is both emotional and symbolic for Mkhabela.

Read also: Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital to open soon

“Give me a problem to solve on the day of the launch, so I don’t cry,” she said.

What was supposed to be a question and answer session on funding models quickly turned into a lesson in “ubuntu” and incorporating aspects of humanity and giving as a non-profit business model that hinges on a public-private partnership.

Mkhabela was tasked with a challenge by Nelson Mandela to build a hospital for children. She has been the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Hospital Fund since 2001.

In 2012 the business case for the hospital was completed and to date the fund has raised R880 million. They broke ground to build the hospital in 2014 - and so a vision became brick and mortar and concrete reality within four years.

Nine zeros

“I wanted 200 corporations to give R5m each and contribute to the fund to reach our goal of R1 billion. But it turned out not to be as easy as that,” she said. “My dream was nine zeros. (There are nine zeros in R1bn.)

“I had to shift my thinking when it came to fund-raising.”

She not only had to change her thinking, but also her shoes.

“I had to give up my high heels for flat shoes, and learn to be on the run, as you never know where you are going to be. I was knocking on doors like a Jehovah’s Witness going door to door. If the chief executive was busy, I waited. I learnt to be humble,” she said.

Mandela, all those years ago, was close to a family with a sick child and he saw an absence of facilities to cater for this child. In Cape Town there is the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, but Gauteng did not have facilities catering just for children.

In the US and Europe, there are a plethora of hospitals for children, but not so in southern Africa, according to Mkhabela.

“Little children cannot be treated like adults when they are five years old,” Mkhabela said, referring to local hospitals that had paediatric wards. “You need the right environment for children.”

Mandela saw the need and tasked Mkhabela with rising to the challenge.

“When is my hospital going to be built?” he would ask her.

So the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Fund was born to rise to this challenge, starting with raising R1bn.

Eighty percent of patients will be from the public, including children from other southern African countries and 20 percent of patients will be private patients backed by medical aids.

The government is heavily involved in the governance of the hospital, with members on the operating board. The board consists of government representatives, universities and business people.

Mkhabela said the government would soon provide the operating budget and by next month hopefully the budget should be available to start running the hospital. The hospital will from next year open in stages as it comes on line and as it builds capacity.

About 20 private companies have come on board the project with funding, a far cry from the envisioned 200.

Another roughly 40 companies have provided discounts.

Some companies gave money, some companies provided the “Madiba” rate or discounted rates on materials needed and some donated their services.

A slowing economy has also not helped the funding challenge, with companies under pressure.

Similar to the Johannesburg Zoo, where corporates who made donations have their name outside the lion enclosure, so too will some companies who provide donations have parts of the hospital named after them.

For example, the Islamic Relief fund donated R100m and the oncology ward will be named after them.

Mkhabela said some business leaders had become heavily involved in international fund raising for the hospital, such as Phuthuma Nhleko, the executive chairman of MTN, and Moss Ngoasheng, the chief executive of Safika Holdings.

General Electric South Africa was one of the donors that not only gave R10m, but provided a discount on second generation equipment to the hospital.

Karl Storz Endoscopy, a German company, has provided funding for a skills laboratory at the hospital, which is key to funding the hospital going forward.

International donors have contributed most of the funds.

Philanthropy

“Locally philanthropy is far behind as South Africans need to reach a higher level of consciousness and instead of accumulation and materialism after years of deprivation, need to learn to self-actualise to give on a bigger scale and ubuntu,” Mkhabela said. “People need to learn what it is to care and define yourself. I am because you are.”

A Western model of philanthropy exists, but southern Africa needs to find the middle ground that encompasses how local communities are good at looking after themselves, Mkhabela believes.

However, her favourite donor so far is a boy named Simon, who has had a few birthdays since he first made an appearance. “Simon came into my office with a piggy bank to donate to the fund,” Mkhabela said.

But going forward after the hospital is launched, the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Fund hopes to generate funding from good research and by becoming a centre of excellence.

The skills laboratory was a cornerstone to this plan, Mkhabela said.

It is not by accident that the hospital is situated close to Wits University, on 44 Jubilee Street in Parktown, Johannesburg. However, other academic institutions are also involved.

In southern Africa a shortage of specialised paediatricians exists and part of the vision of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital is skills training.

It takes five years of general medical training, then a further four years to become a paediatrician. After that, paediatricians specialise, which requires further study.

Nurses also need to be trained. The hospital aims to be an incubator for paediatricians, honing medical care for children in southern Africa. However, the hospital cannot compete with the private sector when it comes to remuneration, so how does one retain skills?

Mkhabela hopes to retain staff at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital that are passionate about what they do, in an academic, caring environment, where learning is shared and “is the best environment to be in”.

“We cannot compete globally. Staff will be people who have made a choice and want to change society.”

The business model is thus more than funding for a hospital, but creating a tangible wealth of medical skills focused on children in southern Africa.

As Mkhabela rises to Madiba’s challenge, she hopes South Africans can all learn and take the opportunity to renew their vision of the country's future. “It is not about were we are from, or where we are going, it is about what you want your children to inherit.”

 

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