Durban - The family of political activist and struggle icon Victoria Mxenge has welcomed an initiative to rename the King Edward VIII Hospital after her.
Mxenge completed a midwifery course at the hospital and took up service as a community nurse in uMlazi.
She later studied law and was subsequently admitted as an attorney. She was killed in August 1985, in her driveway in the same township, in front of her children, by four members of what is believed to have been an apartheid government “death squad”.
Her murder occurred just four years after her husband, Griffiths Mxenge, was abducted, stabbed 45 times, beaten with a hammer, and had his throat slit, also by a “death squad”. The couple were survived by two sons and one daughter. Speaking to the Sunday Tribune, Mxenge’s eldest son, Mbasa Mxenge said the family was excited when they were approached by the KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, calling the renaming plans a huge honour.
“At some point she studied and worked at the same hospital and to think that down the line, it will be named after her, warms our hearts.
I am sure my mother is smiling where she is. We have given the department the permission to name the hospital after her,” said Mxenge. He said ironically, this (King Edward VIII Hospital) was where his mother took her last breath after she was shot. “When she was shot, we drove past a hospital which was near uMlazi, why? “This shows that this was truly God’s plan to take her last breath where she had studied, worked and later took her last breath,” he said.
Mxenge said the department had advised the family that there was a public submission poster that was put up on all its social media pages regarding the renaming of the prestigious hospital. “We were advised that the public has been asked to comment and we truly wish that the public will support this initiative.” Mxenge added that not only was renaming historic buildings after political stalwarts informative, it “also encouraged the youth to know their roots and belongings”.
However, some on social media have expressed unhappiness, saying the money spent on renaming the hospital should be used to renovate the building instead. Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane, speaking during the budget speech last week, had indicated that plans were already underway.
“We are already at an advanced stage with our plans to rename King Edward VIII Hospital after yet another distinguished daughter of the soil, uMama uVictoria Mxenge. This is the ultimate price that so many of our leaders paid so that this country could attain political freedom.
It is something we should never, ever forget – or take for granted. “We are pleased that it’s only a matter of time before we rename this hospital after this giant of our liberation struggle,” said Simelane.
The closing date for comments on the renaming of the hospital is Tuesday.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE