Medical graduate on the forefront of the fight against Covid-19, thanks to crowdfunding

Retshidisitswe Kotane, a medical graduate from Krugersdorp recently registered with the Health Professional Council of South Africa (HPCSA). She is proud to be serving her country at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19.

But just a few months ago, Retshidisitswe was on the verge of despair, having missed three graduation ceremonies and being unable to find a job in her field of study as a result of unpaid university fees. Her name was removed from the graduation list because she was unable to pay the about R95 000 in outstanding fees. Without her graduation certificate, Retshidisitswe could not register with the HPCSA and was therefore not allowed to work in the medical field.

She heard about the Feenix crowd-funding platform, through which she was able to connect with individuals in her community to partly reach her fundraising goal, with the bulk of the balance paid by the Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation.

CEO of the Tutuwa Foundation, Zanele Tutuwa, said the Foundation aims to inspire and support the growth and development of young people so that they could reach their full potential and be productive citizens.

“Our contribution to Feenix is to fund young people like Retshidisitswe to enable her to attain the degree certificate for which she has worked so hard. This is one example of our contribution towards building a better South Africa and leaving a legacy, “ said Tutuwa. She further congratulated Retshidisitswe on her hard work, resilience, tenacity and staying on course.

Retshidisitswe said she could not quite believe that her dreams were becoming a reality. “After I received the email telling me my debt would be covered, I was in complete disbelief. I only realised it was true when I checked my fee statement a week later and found that the outstanding fees had indeed been settled,” she said.

A week after registering as a health professional with the HPCSA and receiving her registration number, a former lecturer called to tell her about an opportunity to apply for work at Netcare. Retshidisitswe sent her CV through, and within a few days, she was offered a position as part of the response team to the Covid-19 pandemic at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases.

“All of this happened within less than a month of having my debt cleared and registering with the HPCSA,” said Retshidisitswe. “I am so grateful to Feenix and the Tutuwa Foundation. It has been an overwhelming journey and I can still hardly believe it,” she added.

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