ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTHCARE, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, JOB SECURITY AND INCLUSION – DRIVING PRINCIPLES BEHIND LEFIKA MEDICAL CENTRE
South Africa has a highly unequal healthcare system with the majority of the population not being able to afford private healthcare, while the public sector remains underfunded and under pressure.
As a vital member of the community, Dr. Thato Molefi, owner and CEO of Lefika Medical Centre in Rustenburg and Johannesburg, has a vision to address the issue of access to quality healthcare in underserved communities. His practice maintains and provides quality medical and oral healthcare throughout, ensuring client care is a main priority as set by Batho Pele principles.
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His greatest contribution to the public at large is being involved in many projects that improve the lives of many citizens who can’t afford health insurances and opt for public health which he strives daily to improve and make sure that the public get the best quality healthcare that the Government can offer.
One of these projects is the Boitekong Community Healthcare Centre, which is a project that Dr. Molefi spearheaded to ensure that the people of Boitekong had easy access to quality healthcare.
Clinically he has been able to reflect on many surgical cases that he has done on his patients in the public sector for free, which if it were in the private sector, the same type of treatment would be unaffordable.
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As a member of the executive committee for Rustenburg sub-district Department of Health, he is part of the management for the sub-district with duties being mainly to implement DOH policies on the ground level and making sure that the lives of the people are improved through the implementation thereof.
He has also been a member of the training committee since 2014 which is responsible for development of employees in their different sectors, making sure that staff development is continuous, but also not forgetting that such development must be guided by the needs of the department especially with regard to skills that are important to acquire to improve the lives of citizens.
“I have been part of several projects including structural development and opening of new facilities. I am currently a member of the vaccination committee which has a role to educate the public about the importance of vaccination, also making sure that our vaccination sites follow the vaccination protocol and are able to reach people in numbers so that we get more and more people vaccinated,” says Dr. Thato Molefi.
As a businessman, Molefi feels that it is very important that black medical practitioners have an opportunity to showcase their different skills, skills that they have acquired through experiences in the health fraternity.
“I feel that I have given back for so long and giving back won’t stop, but we must also not forget the entrepreneurship side of our craft especially as black practitioners because our forefathers didn’t get the opportunities we have today. We need to use these skills to build legacies for our children” he says.
With all the impactful work that Dr. Molefi has accomplished over the years in his community in the North-West, he has decided to expand his practice to Gauteng. Of this new expansion he says, “Lefika Medical Centre is a legacy I want to be proud of, a centre that prides itself on quality patient care with skillful health professionals who will put their patients first. The love for people to experience this in their time of need when they are at their most vulnerable, is what motivated me to open another branch. For me, Gauteng is just one step of growth as it’s the hype of the country. I feel if you can survive in Gauteng, you can survive anywhere in the country. The plan is to have several branches, employ more people and be part of the South African solution to increase the declined unemployment rate.”
Cece Smith 