Shattered dreams of Dr Alulutho Mazwi and his broader family

The family of the medical intern from Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal is devastated by the conditions they claim he was made to work under.

Alulutho Mazwi, 25, an intern doctor at the Umlazi hospital who suffered from diabetes, died on Monday night after allegedly being made to work despite reporting he was unwell. 

The family, who spoke to TimesLIVE on Thursday outside the hospital where they were collecting his body and belongings to return to his home in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, said the news of his passing and what they had been told about the events leading up to it were “shocking and disturbing”.

“Imagine losing a child when he is starting his professional career after years of struggling and sacrifices he and the family made. When you have someone who made the moves and he makes it, that child becomes the pride of the broader family,” said his uncle Vumani Mazwi.

“For him to be subjected to these conditions after all the efforts, it’s hard not to be distraught. As a family we’ve had the feeling there is something we could’ve done.”

His death and the circumstances leading up to it have raised questions regarding the treatment of junior staff, especially interns, by their superiors in the hospital.

His long-term girlfriend Lindokuhle Phathekile said Mazwi was diagnosed with diabetes in July 2024.

His medical condition had deteriorated massively in the last two weeks of his life. She said he had taken a week-long medical leave earlier this month and travelled back home.

He reported on May 5 that he was not feeling well but was told he was expected to report back for duty on May 7.

“We requested that he go to the doctor but he insisted on returning to work because he had been receiving calls from the supervising consultant, who was also calling the interns' group leader, saying Alu was expected at work that Wednesday,” she said.

He cut his leave short by a day and submitted a medical certificate but was required to work on the Wednesday.

“He submitted a detailed report because the doctor who was treating him wanted to show what was wrong so he could manage his condition better, but regardless of that they denied giving him time.”

Phathekile said the hospital would not take the advice of the other doctor and told him to go to the staff clinic instead.

“He was very tired, very weak. He was moving very slow because he did not have energy.”

There was no doctor at the staff clinic and he was taken to the outpatient department where he got a drip and was discharged, she said.

He had to report to work the next day and was scheduled to be on shift until Sunday.

“He collapsed on his way to work and, regardless of reporting and having to look for replacements himself, they expected him to come in on Monday. He went to work, and in the night is when he lost his life.”

Vumani said the hospital schedule had resulted in his nephew missing a lot of important family functions, to the point where they, as elders, had to make other family members in his age group who were complaining that he was allowed to be absent, understand his case was different.

“What concerned him the most was that he didn’t get time to attend family gatherings, whether rituals or funerals. Last year we had a string of funerals as a family.

“He couldn’t even attend his sister’s graduation.

“We were living with the understanding [of the demands on his time at work], painful as it was, because he loved his family. He would cry sometimes and I’d calm him down and tell him to endure this time and ‘one day you will be deployed to another hospital’. This phase was preparing him for bigger things.”

That, unfortunately did not come to be.

He described the intern as a “rare kind of child” who was as much into jokes as he was into his books.

Phathekile, who lived with Mazwi in hospital accommodation, said she was disappointed with the treatment of interns at the hospital.

“ They overwork them and do not expect them to get sick, as if they are not human beings.”

She said Mazwi was a humble and fun person to be around who had a bright future ahead of him.

“He loved to joke. You wouldn’t walk in a room he was in and find silence. He was full of life, he had dreams and plans. He wanted a car of his own, to own a property and have a family. He dreamt big, he wanted to specialise in psychiatry, but they shattered those dreams unfortunately.”

Phathekile  said Mazwi’s death deprived her of a lifetime companion and the plans they had made together.

“They deprived me of unconditional love. They deprived me of what could’ve been a family, a future. He was my best friend. They deprived me of a life partner.”

His uncle said the family wants accountability so no other child goes through what his nephew experienced.

“We need it to be rectified by the department. Whoever is responsible for this must account.

“How do you expect a medical professional to discharge his duties diligently when he is not right himself? It’s not fair to patients because he won’t be able to apply his all when he is dealing with them. This must be a lesson and something must be done.”

Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said earlier this week the department was struggling to come to terms with the loss of four staff members, including Mazwi.

“These consecutive losses have left a huge void. Each of them represented a future filled with promise, professional excellence and the ability to inspire and uplift those around them,” said Simelane.

Chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on health Sibongiseni Dhlomo said Penny Msimango, the acting head of the provincial health department, had committed to investigate the circumstances around Mazwi's death.

TimesLIVE