By Selloane Ntshonyane
- Virginia Zondi, 75, from Orange Farm waited three years for knee surgery, then declined the operation when she was finally called.
- Gauteng public hospitals have completed 687 of a targeted 1,326 surgeries this month, as part of the 2026 Mandela Month Surgical Marathon.
Virginia Zondi waited three years for a knee operation. When the hospital finally called her in, she said no.
Zondi, 75, from Orange Farm, was told by Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in 2019 that her knee needed surgery. The hospital was full, so she was referred to Johannesburg General Hospital, now known as Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.
She waited about three years before she was called for the operation in 2022.
“I was in pain and I couldn’t walk,” Zondi said. She used a walking stick throughout the wait and received updates from the hospital while she waited.
When her turn finally came, Zondi turned the surgery down.
“I had waited for so long. I felt I was too old and I have a minor staying with me. I wouldn’t have anyone to help me after the surgery,” she said.
Zondi believes public hospitals need more doctors in surgery departments so patients do not have to wait years for operations.
“When people are sick they can’t keep living with pain while waiting for surgery,” she said.
Gauteng’s public hospitals are now working through a different backlog. As part of the 2026 Mandela Month Surgical Marathon, hospitals had completed 687 surgeries and clinical procedures by 21 July, 52% of a target of 1,326 by 31 July.
Eye surgeries account for the highest number completed so far, at 273. Obstetrics and gynaecology followed with 88 procedures, and general surgery with 73.
Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital completed the most procedures, at 156. Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital completed 80, Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital 79, Steve Biko Academic Hospital 58, and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital 56.
The department said the campaign aims to cut surgical waiting lists and give patients faster access to specialist care. Last year’s campaign completed 806 procedures by its end.
Pictured above: The entrance of Gauteng’s Chris Haani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
Image source: Supplied
