In 2016 a group of registered surgeons in the private sector decided to launch a Mandela day initiative to honour the legacy of former president Nelson Mandela, by operating on patients desperately awaiting surgery. The hope was that this small gesture would change the lives of a few people who primarily depend on the heavy burdened South African state hospitals for relief of pain and disability.

Since 2016, this initial one-week charity drive has expanded into a full-blown Non-Profit Company. In the past 6 years, 570 underprivileged patients have been given the opportunity to experience a new, fully functioning life by receiving life-changing surgery. By doing this, we empower them to be absorbed back into the working market as contributors to our country’s economy.

The procedures we perform are from various disciplines and includes, but is not limited, to orthopaedics, arthroplasty, general surgery, urology, gynaecology, ENT and plastic surgery for skin cancer excisions. During 2020 we were forced to adapt due to minimal funding and our primary health care projects were born. Since 2020 our women’s health clinics helped 256 women with Pap smears, contraception, and cancer treatment and during our eyecare days we screened 166 patients and dispensed 111 pairs of glasses.