A prominent South African businesswoman has raised R20 million for the construction of a clinic treating people suffering from a disease that killed her daughter.
Kalagadi Manganese company chairperson Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, of Bryanston in Gauteng, will turn the first sod on June 1 for construction of the Zakithi Nkosi Clinical Haematology Centre of Excellence to be built at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
The clinic is dedicated to the memory of Mashile-Nkosi’s daughter Zakithi “Zaza” Nkosi, who died at the age of 19 from a little-known, yet terrible disease – haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) – about two years ago.
Mashile-Nkosi then started spreading awareness about the disease and through her Stanley and Daphne Nkosi Foundation embarked on a project to build a special ward at the hospital for patients with HLH and other clinical haematology disorders.
“It is the least we can do to restore the dignity of many who are affected by this disease. As a parent, I wouldn’t want to see another parent experiencing such untold pain. Hence, we besiege all South Africans to help make this project a success,” she said.
HLH is a life-threatening disease and an uncommon haematologic disorder found more often in children than in adults. It is a condition where the immune system begins to damage the patient’s own tissues.
South Africans die every year from this torturous disease without being aware they have according to Mashile-Nkosi.
She added that the location of the project was deliberately intended to assist struggling communities in and around Soweto, who could not afford to pay for specialised care.
The state-of-the-art ward will accommodate 28 beds, have designated family rooms, secluded rooms for the administration of chemotherapy, nurses’ areas and a general caring ambience for healing.
The sod-turning ceremony was purposely meant to coincide with the commencement of Youth Month in June and birthday of the late Zaza. Mashile-Nkosi wished to spread the word about this worthy initiative for the benefit of various communities. Her goal is to challenge many other corporates to help change people’s lives.
Mashile-Nkosi is the mother of Doctor Zakhele Mashile, Tekiso and Katleho Byrd and the widow of the late Stalwart and comrade, Stanley Nqobizizwe Nkosi.
