Madiba wasn't tech-savvy but he would have been proud of the hi-tech equipment in the hospital he dreamed of. "We would have had to explain to him how a person can sit anywhere in Southern Africa and see what is happening in the operating theatre," said the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Trust, Bongi Mkhabela.The Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital in Parktown, Johannesburg, will open at the beginning of December, the week of the third anniversary of Mandela's death.Cameras in each of the hospital's theatres will be used in the transmission of operations to other hospitals, allowing doctors and surgeons to give one another advice and discuss procedures. The films will be used in training across Southern Africa.The referral hospital will treat some of the sickest children in sub-Saharan Africa, whether private or state patients, and patients from the Southern African Development Community.The building and equipment cost R1-billion, R880-million of which was generated through fundraising. The Kids-for-Kids campaign, using primary school children, raised R120000 over two years for the building.Mkhabela said many of the furnishings for the hospital were acquired at "Madiba prices" - slightly less than cost price."He dreamed of a knowledge building," Mkhabela said. He would have loved the incorporation of children's drawings into the hospital's decor, including colourful characters hanging on walls, some with motivational messages in speech bubbles."I can see this is hard for you but you are so brave," says a single-toothed child character."Madiba would have been proud," Mkhabela said.Nursing staff are being trained in paediatrics.In the planning stages doctors called for more ICU beds because the province is critically short of them, often delaying life-saving treatment.At any time there are 300 children with a hole in their heart waiting for surgery in Gauteng. But only the sickest can be treated...