Urology specialists and trainees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) helped treat 74 patients during a five-day surgical marathon aimed at reducing elective surgery waiting lists in the public healthcare system recently, reports Inside Education.
Between 6 and 10 July, they helped patients at Victoria Mxenge-St Aidan’s Hospital Tertiary Complex in Durban and Ngwelezana Provincial Tertiary Hospital in Empangeni as part of the KZN leg of the 2026 African Synergy Health Mandela Week Surgical Marathon.
The 74 patients represented more than a third of the national campaign’s aspirational target of treating at least 200 patients by the end of Mandela Month.
Staff and specialist trainees from UKZN’s Discipline of Urology joined public and private healthcare partners to perform complex procedures on patients who had been waiting for elective surgery: these included operations to correct congenital birth defects, reconstruct damaged urethras and remove kidneys or testes affected by cancer.
Several patients underwent more than one operation or procedure during the marathon. The total number of procedures performed has not yet been consolidated.
Help for surgical backlogs
Head of UKZN’s Discipline of Urology and the KwaZulu-Natal Clinical Department of Urology Dr Cindy Zietsman said the campaign demonstrated the effect partnerships between the public and private sectors could have on surgical backlogs.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
Demand for specialist urological services in KwaZulu-Natal continued to exceed the capacity available in the province, she added, with patients requiring urgent procedures for life-threatening conditions typically waiting between two and eight weeks for surgery, while those requiring non-life-threatening elective procedures could wait for up to 12 months.
At the Victoria Mxenge-St Aidan’s Hospital Tertiary Complex, eight theatre slates operated from early morning until late each day, compared with the usual six.
At Ngwelezana Provincial Tertiary Hospital, theatre capacity doubled from two to four slates.
The surgical marathon is being implemented through a memorandum of understanding between African Synergy Health, a non-profit public benefit organisation, and the National Department of Health.
The programme is being rolled out across six provinces. Its Free State and KZN legs have been completed, while the initiative is currently under way in Gauteng.
The marathon will then continue in North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
African Synergy Health founder and chief executive Dr Viola Morolo said the organisation’s vision was to eliminate elective surgical waiting lists through collaborative partnerships that strengthened South Africa’s healthcare system.
Morolo and Dr Marissa Conradie, also from African Synergy Health, volunteered their services during three of the five operating days, working alongside five UKZN urology specialists, six registrar doctors and between four and six surgical nurses in each theatre at the two hospitals.
The initiative has expanded since the 2025 KwaZulu-Natal surgical marathon, when 38 patients underwent 118 procedures at the Victoria Mxenge-St Aidan’s Hospital Tertiary Complex.
Inside Education article – UKZN team helps treat 74 patients in surgical marathon (Open access)
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