Pretoria - Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) chairman Professor Lungile Pepeta has died of the coronavirus (Covid-19) - the second CMS chairman to die of the virus, the council said on Saturday.
"The CMS, the medical schemes industry, and the health sector has once again lost a leader to coronavirus (Covid-19). Professor Pepeta had been at the helm of the CMS since June 2020, after the passing of Dr Clarence Mini, who also succumbed to the virus," the CMS said in a statement.
Prior to this, Pepeta had been an ordinary member of the council since his appointment by the minister of health in November 2017, it said.
"Ever smiling, Professor Pepeta was a passionate and committed patriot who poured his life into the service of others through his chosen profession. A health worker par excellence, Professor Pepeta specialised in paediatric cardiology, introducing non-invasive surgery to correct heart defects in children," the council said.
At the time of his death, he was serving as the executive dean on the faculty of health sciences at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. He had lived to see his greatest goal in recent years, which was the establishment of the medical school at Nelson Mandela University, come to fruition.
"The CMS is devastated and deeply saddened by his untimely departure and would like to relay its message of condolence to the Pepeta family, particularly Dr Vuyo Pepeta, the late professor’s wife. May Professor Pepeta’s soul rest in peace and rise in glory," the council statement said.
African News Agency/ANA