EDITORIAL | Mabuza sets poor leadership example by seeking medical help abroad

It would be hard for an ordinary South African to tell that the country’s deputy president David Mabuza spent the last month in Russia. This is because even when he is in the country, he is so unnoticeable it is almost like he is in Russia.

He is in Russia, not on a frolic: he is there to seek medical help, we suspect unavailable in SA. We are uncertain if, indeed, the help received in Russia is unavailable in our country’s top medical facilities. 

His medical afflictions, though, are his private affairs. It is his decision to seek medical help in Europe that is a bitter pill to swallow. Without encroaching into his private medical information, we must wonder publicly, given his position in government, what level of service he requires in Russia and why that service is not available in SA. 

Not too long ago, former president Nelson Mandela entrusted his health to the country’s health professionals. All former presidents, except Jacob Zuma, who also consults in Cuba from time to time, have submitted themselves for care to our health professionals. And these have become sought after around the world as embodiments of excellence. Prof Salim Abdool Karim, to name one, recently received global honours along with Dr Anthony Fauci of the US for their world-standard leadership in the management of the Covid-19 global health pandemic. 

To make the point that our health professionals are excellent is not to say that they’re excellent at the exact issues afflicting Mabuza, whatever they may be. 

What we must not shy away from saying is that Mabuza’s decision to seek help in Russia sends a message that he has no confidence in our country’s health system — both public and private. It sends the very troubling message that those who are entrusted with our leadership, who have a responsibility to ensure that our health system functions optimally, may not be fully seized with the task of leading because they have options not available to the rest of us. If Russia is the gold standard for treating whatever ailment is behind Mabuza’s trip, how many of the 59-million of us could marshal the funds not just to travel to Russia, but sustain month-long treatment by specialists working at top-notch health facilities? 

But we have seen this movie before. It has always been Africa’s dictators who leave their impoverished followers in rickety structures serving as hospitals, to seek medical help in Europe. Sadly, many came back in body bags.

It is important to caution against those in positions of power seeking exclusive, costly care inaccessible to the majority, while lording over the demise of national assets that are our hospitals and clinics.

Robert Mugabe, a hero to some and to others a murderous megalomaniac responsible for the ruins that Zimbabwe is today, died in a hospital in Singapore not too long ago. Malawian dictator Hastings Banda, criticised for maintaining full diplomatic relations with apartheid SA, died in a hospital in a free SA in 1997. Idi Amin died in the port city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in August 2003. 

But these are Africa’s aberrations.

Mabuza is a democrat, entrusted with leading Mandela’s rainbow nation. This is why we believe he should not be travelling the world to seek solutions unavailable to the rest of those he leads. He should be ensuring that the South African health system attains the gold standard he now seeks elsewhere.

To say this, is not to suggest a blanket ban on those seeking medical help. We, after all, live in a free world. But it is important to caution against those in positions of power seeking exclusive, costly care inaccessible to the majority, while lording over the demise of national assets that are our hospitals and clinics — the very last line of defence against life-threatening illnesses for many of us.

What April 27, 1994 represents is a nation’s commitment to reflect on its growth and development and take corrective action that enables a thousand flowers to bloom. 

For this to happen, our economy must attract and retain the best. Our education system, our citadels of knowledge, must produce some of the best qualified people, including healthcare professionals. Our health system must ensure the provision of quality healthcare — good enough for our leaders, including Mabuza. 

We owe it to ourselves to always improve, particularly, our health system. If we all can’t go to Russia for healthcare, we may as well ensure that leaders like Mabuza fix our healthcare to a level acceptable to them. Then, surely, it’ll be good enough for all of us.