Prof Zukiswa Zingela is winner in health awards

Professor Zukiswa Zingela, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Nelson Mandela University, is the joint winner of the Health Excellence Category award in the prestigious 2025 SA Health Excellence Awards.

The awards, in their fifth year, are a partnership between the Clinix Health Group, the largest private hospital operator in townships, and the South African Clinician Scientists Society, for clinician scientists, a new cadre of doctors and healthcare professionals, with additional training in research and basic sciences.

Its vision is to “celebrate excellence in healthcare by identifying leaders in medicine who have contributed to research, teaching and advancement of medicine in South Africa.”

The awards, which have 10 categories, also aim “to recognise inspiring leaders who have served as visionaries and mentors in the medical community”.

Prof Zingela, a psychiatrist, jointly won the Health Excellence Award category with Dr Zwelibanzi Zondo, an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Mediclinic.

The award is for “a clinician who has served the health and medical community in a distinguished way. Celebrated for a career of health excellence with a balance between clinical, academic and leadership excellence; or a health professional who has made a significant contribution that is recognised beyond the healthcare sector.”

Prof Zingela said that she delivered her congratulatory message at the awards gala dinner in her role as Chairperson of the South African Committee of Health Sciences Deans.

“I reflected on the depth of talent, skill and leadership gathered in the room. I likened it to the power of the sea, which is strengthened by the rivers that flow into it, and those rivers in turn draw strength from their tributaries.

For me, this is a reminder of how our sector works. Every student we teach, every junior doctor we train and mentor, every colleague we support, adds to a larger current of capability that moves the health system forward. We may not always see where that power flows, but what each of us does in our own corner matters. It contributes to the collective force that keeps the system moving through its toughest seasons.”

Prof Zingela said that listening to the young award winners that night, she “felt that same current. I felt like one river among many, carrying what I can toward the larger sea that is our imperfect but invaluable health system. That is what keeps us all going: knowing that, in our own way, we strengthen the whole.”

The awards website indicates, “the health sector remains one of the most pivotal pillars of our nation. Equally, the work of the medical community across various specialities cannot be overstated. Their tireless efforts, dedication and commitment to change lives are nothing less than commendable.”

In November 2018, the Clinix Health Group and the South African Clinician Scientists Society hosted the inaugural South African Health Excellence Awards. One of the highlights from last year’s edition was the awarding of the Dr Nthato Motlana Lifetime Achiever Award to Professor Ephraim Mokgokong, the first black gynaecologist to qualify and practise in South Africa.