THE UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND HONOURS MINISTER BLADE NZIMANDE

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA

ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA

THE UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND HONOURS MINISTER BLADE NZIMANDE

On Tuesday, 26 August 2025, the University of Zululand  hosted a historic ceremony which saw the unveiling and naming of three world class buildings.

These include a newly constructed Engineering building, new 442 beds, the refurbished Madiba House and the Richards Bay Lodge.

One of the highlights of the ceremony included the *naming of the Engineering department at the Richards Bay campus in honour of the current Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Blade Nzimande.

The University of Zululand decided to honour Minister Nzimande for his *“contribution to education and development.

Expressing his gratitude at this gesture, Minister Nzimande indicated how humbled he was and that he never imagined that “as a boy from Dambuza, he would ever have his name inscribed on the building of a university.” 

Minister Nzimande also participated in the naming of the other two buildings. The one building was named after South Africa’s globally recognised icon and first democratic President, *Mr. Nelson Mandela* and the other was named after *Mr. Vuyani Cyril Gamede*, a celebrated and pioneering black engineer and former Chairperson of the Council of University of Zululand.

Delivering the keynote address at this ceremony, Minister Nzimande stated that “As government, our investments in infrastructure are not just about expanding access and creating a conducive world-class environment where students can learn and innovate.

We also hope that these investments will inspire our students and academics to not simply see themselves as consumers of the knowledge that is produced by others, but to also see themselves as knowledge producers in their own right.

This of course resonates with your purpose- statement as a university that of positioning yourself as ‘A Node for African Thought’.”

Highlighting the importance of having an engineering department in the Mhlathuze District, Minister Nzimande stated that “Under apartheid, black people were not allowed to study engineering and were given the type of education that sought to prepare them for subservient roles in society. It is therefore important that we share this history with our young people so that they can have a deeper appreciation for the opportunities they now enjoy.

Furthermore, as the host of the largest aluminum smelter in the Southern Hemisphere, Mhlathuze plays a critical role in the facilitation of export of coal and metals, and the operation of the world's largest dedicated coal export terminal.

Through the Richards Bay port, this District is making a significant contribution in the area of minerals and metals, chemicals, and agro-processing, all of which are key drivers of local economic development, job creation, skills development, technology transfer, and international trade.

To maintain and enhance these economic advantages and to increasingly use them to address the economic needs communities in this District will require new technological know-how and skills and some of the most important competencies reside in the engineering field.

Therefore, your decision to build this Engineering department in this particular district is profoundly visionary."

Minister Nzimande also used the occasion to appeal to the students and broader university community to look after the newly built buildings and urged them “to never forget that these new buildings are for you and future generations, and you have a shared responsibility to make sure that they are well looked after. This is to make sure that, in a few years from now, the children of this area who are still in primary and high school can also come here to pursue their academic dreams.”

 MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA

Hundreds of beds without the right linen at Baragwanath Hospital

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA

 ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA

Hundreds of beds without the right linen at Baragwanath Hospital 

An astounding 860 beds at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBH) do not have a full set of linen - this increases the infection risk, is undignified and uncomfortable for patients, it delays bed turnaround times, and it increases the burden on nursing and cleaning staff.

This is disclosed by Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to the MEC, each hospital bed should have a minimum of five full sets per linen category to allow for rotational use (on bed, in laundry, in storage, in transit, and in contingency stock).

The linen categories are as follows:

• Flat sheets

• Fitted sheets

• Blankets

• Pillowcases

• Counterpanes/bedcovers

• Patient gowns/pyjamas

Each bed should have 2 sheets (1 fitted, 1 flat), a blanket, pillowcase, a counterpane or bedcover, and one patient gown/pyjama per day.

There should ideally be 14 440 stocks of each linen category for the 2888 beds at the hospital, but whereas there are 14 902 flat sheets and 17 524 blankets, there are zero (0) fitted sheets, and only 10 239 pyjamas, 4517 counterpanes, and 1272 pillowcases.

The department says that about 650 beds have only one sheet "due to rotation pressure and supply constraints".

This confirms what I saw when I visited the hospital last month - see photos here, and here.

I wonder how they cope with no fitted sheets and only 1272 pillowcases for 2888 beds.

Previously, the department denied any linen shortage, but now it admits the severe shortage at CHBH. They blame obsolete laundry machines, delays in finalising a bulk linen purchase, a high patient load which accelerates linen wear and usage, and linen losses due to damage and delays in washing soiled items.

They say efforts are being made to get emergency stock, and the hospital expects full linen adequacy by the first quarter of next year "contingent on tender conclusion and funding flow".

This is not good enough. Of particular concern is the risk of infection, which is already high with 1796 hospital-acquired infections at CHBH out of 31 985 admissions last year.

It should not take six months to buy more linen. The inability to fix this simple problem shows incredibly poor management.

The DA will continue to expose linen shortages by visiting hospitals and asking follow up questions in the Legislature which hopefully force them to resolve it.

A DA-run administration would ensure adequate linen stocks and reassess the reliance on inefficient and unreliable provincial laundries, with more use of cost-efficient private laundries to ensure that hospitals always have clean linen.

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA