In a political administration with an acute shortage of talent, Dr Phophi Ramathuba has often been regarded as one of the rising stars of the post-Jacob Zuma era.
Her leadership of the battle against the Covid pandemic in Limpopo, where she is MEC for health, was exemplary and, at some stage, resulted in the province registering far more impressive vaccination rollout figures than those of wealthier provinces.
She is generally popular within the sector, with practitioners and public health activists often praising her for her hands-on approach to issues confronting one of the country’s poorest provinces.
When the Digital Vibes scandal forced Zweli Mkhize to step down in disgrace as health minister, Ramathuba was among those suggested as a replacement.
Were the ANC to win the next general election — or garner enough votes to be able to form a coalition government — it is likely that its president, under pressure to pick a cabinet that is mostly young and gender diverse, would choose Ramathuba as the next health minister.
For that to happen, however, not only would the ANC have to perform better than expected at the polls but Ramathuba would have had to make it onto the ANC’s next national executive committee, which is scheduled to be elected this December.
Election periods bring out the worst in some politicians. In Ramathuba’s case, the upcoming ANC polls seem to have brought out a brand of populism that undermines her otherwise sterling track record as a medical practitioner as well as a human-rights activist.
Her cringeworthy verbal attack on a Zimbabwean patient at a Limpopo hospital recently was not becoming for a politician who has the power and influence to improve the province’s and the country’s public health systems.
Instead of owning up to the high levels of corruption and maladministration that have led to the near collapse of public hospitals and clinics in provinces such as Limpopo, the MEC chose to publicly humiliate a powerless patient in a manner calculated to deflect attention from the real issues and win her popularity with those who blame all their misery on immigrants from neighbouring countries.
As a medical doctor, she should learn from colleagues such as Dr Ndiviwe Mphothulo, who says a clinician shouldn’t see race or nationality once a patient is before him, seeking help
But if the fundamental problem with our public health system were the influx of Zimbabweans, Mozambicans and Basotho into SA, then hospitals in the Eastern Cape would not be known as places where patients “go to die”.
The Eastern Cape does not have as many immigrants as Gauteng and Limpopo and yet its public hospitals and clinics are near collapse.
That is not to say that the phenomenon of people from neighbouring countries crossing the border to access health services from an already strained and under-resourced system should not be tackled.
But one does not address the problem by shouting at desperate patients who are forced to travel long distances because their own countries are unable to deliver the basics.
As MEC, Ramathuba — through the national government — should be taking up the matter with her Zimbabwean counterparts.
We agree with those health activists who have suggested that, instead of turning the issue into a political football aimed at gaining votes in 2024, our politicians should regard it as serious enough for SA and Zimbabwe to discuss a cost-sharing mechanism for health services provided in Beitbridge, Musina and surrounding areas.
We also believe that Ramathuba is making a terrible mistake by refusing to re-examine her unprofessional and unacceptable conduct towards the Zimbabwean patient on the grounds that “91% of Limpopo citizens” agree with her.
As a medical doctor, she should learn from colleagues such as Dr Ndiviwe Mphothulo, who says a clinician shouldn’t see race or nationality once a patient is before him, seeking help.
The desire for higher political office ought not trump the Hippocratic Oath.
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