Mandela Week: 74 patients treated in five-day surgery marathon
A collaboration between UKZN, the public health sector and ASH has seen 74 patients undergo urological surgery in five days.
One week of intensive surgery has given dozens of KwaZulu-Natal patients a fresh start, with UKZN specialists helping to reduce the province’s elective surgery backlog during the 2026 African Synergy Health (ASH) Mandela Week Surgical Marathon.
Over five days, from July 6 to 10, staff and specialist trainees from UKZN’s Discipline of Urology joined healthcare partners to perform life-changing procedures on 74 patients at the Victoria Mxenge – St Aidan’s Hospital Tertiary Complex in Durban and Ngwelezana Provincial Tertiary Hospital in Empangeni.
The surgeries formed part of a national initiative aiming to treat at least 200 patients by the end of Mandela Month by tackling long elective surgery waiting lists in South Africa’s public healthcare system.
Patients underwent a range of complex urological procedures, including surgery to correct congenital birth defects, reconstruct damaged urethras, and remove kidneys or testes affected by cancer. Several patients required multiple procedures during the marathon.
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Head of UKZN’s Discipline of Urology and Head of the KZN Clinical Department of Urology, Dr Cindy Zietsman, said the initiative highlighted the impact of collaboration between the public and private healthcare sectors.
“Treating 74 patients in just five days demonstrates both the commitment of our multidisciplinary team and the impact that strategic public-private partnerships can have on reducing surgical waiting lists,” said Zietsman. “Despite operating with limited human and financial resources, we have shown what is possible when specialist expertise, hospital capacity and external partners work towards a common goal.”
She said demand for specialist urological services in KZN continues to exceed available capacity, with patients requiring urgent surgery typically waiting between two and eight weeks, while non-life-threatening elective procedures can take up to 12 months.
To increase access during the marathon, operating theatre capacity was expanded at both hospitals. Victoria Mxenge-St Aidan’s increased from six to eight theatre slates daily, while Ngwelezana doubled capacity from two to four.
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The initiative, implemented through a Memorandum of Understanding between ASH and the National Department of Health, has already concluded programmes in the Free State and KZN and is now underway in Gauteng before moving to the North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
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