Medical Pioneer Dr Sipho Zwana Immortalised in Bulawayo

By Tinomudaishe Muzanenhamo

Cimas Health Group has renamed its Bulawayo Medical Centre after the late Dr Sipho Leonard Vivian Zwana, one of Zimbabwe’s pioneering black medical practitioners.

The facility will now be known as the Sipho Zwana Medical Centre following a renaming ceremony held in Bulawayo.

Cimas chief executive officer Vuli Ndlovu said the decision was intended to preserve Dr Zwana’s contribution to Zimbabwe’s medical history and ensure that future generations remember his achievements.

Dr Zwana was born on 19 March 1933 at Tekwane Mission and qualified as a doctor in 1960 from the University of Natal Medical School.

According to Ndlovu, he became the first Ndebele person to qualify as a medical doctor.

His career included several historic milestones.

In 1961, Dr Zwana became the first black doctor permitted to work at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo. He later obtained a Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons and, in 1970, became recognised as the first black Zimbabwean anaesthetist.

Ndlovu said Dr Zwana’s decision to specialise in anaesthesia reflected his commitment to serving patients, particularly because anaesthetists often work away from the public spotlight while carrying responsibility for patients’ lives during surgery.

“He was the man who watched while you slept,” Ndlovu said, describing Dr Zwana’s work as being focused on protecting patients at their most vulnerable.

Dr Zwana went on to work at several medical institutions in Zimbabwe and abroad, including Mpilo in Bulawayo, Makumbe in Chinhamora, Harare Central Hospital, Cardiff Royal Infirmary in the UK, Korle Bu in Accra and Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi.

Mr Ndlovu said Dr Zwana devoted 52 years to medicine, spending the final 26 years of his career in Bulawayo.

He said the decision to name the medical centre after him went beyond recognising an individual and was intended to preserve his legacy as part of the city’s history.

“A naming is infrastructure for memory,” Ndlovu said.

He said placing Dr Zwana’s name on a medical facility would ensure that his contribution remained visible to future generations.

“Today, we simply put a name to what that looks like,” he said.

“Together, we can make a difference.”

The Sipho Zwana Medical Centre will now carry the name of a doctor whose career spanned more than five decades and whose work helped break racial barriers in Zimbabwe’s medical profession.