User:Mkledwaba/sandbox

Summary
Dr Morokolo Silas Sathekge is a medical Doctor who was born in a small rural village of Eisleben at Ga Ramokgopa, in the former homeland of Lebowa, South Africa. He is a son of a migrant worker, and he is the fourth born in a family of eight siblings. He spent most of his childhood and youth life between Johannesburg and home village. He was born with multiple physical disabilities, a condition known as Multiple Congenital Contractures, also known Arthrograiposis Multiform. It is a medical condition that limits movement of all major joints of the body and clubfeet. Dr Sathekge went through a number of surgical and orthopedic operations as a child which did not yield much improvement in his condition except for him being able to walk un-aided at the age of six. Despite his disabilities, social challenges, and financial background he has managed to turn his life into a positive light, inspiring both young and old in his community and profession by showing them that you can be anything you want in life if you have the right support and mental attitude, regardless of your physical state. Dr Sathekge is married to a clinical phsycologist and has three sons. He currently runs three surgeries in Mokomene, Esleben and Polokwane in Limpopo South Africa. He is a founder member an NGO called KG Maluleke Memorial Disability Integration Organization.

Early Life
His Schooling began at the age of five, where he was taught in IsiZulu for the first two years. In 1969 a school for disabled children was opened in Letaba, tuition was offered in Nothern Sotho, where he had to re-adjust to the medium of instruction until standard five when the institution could no longer offer any further teaching beyond his basic standard five qualification. In 1976 Dr Sathekge was forced to further his studies at a local mainstream schools due to the lack of high schools that could cater for learners with disabilities at that time.

Dr Sathekge sparked a personal interest in a local Afrikaner farmer by the name of Mr Crawford who provided him with a bursary which funded his mainstream high school tuition where he furthered his studies at Bokgaga High School, not far from Tzaneen, Limpopo.

Dr Sathekge experienced various challenges as a disabled child in a mainstream school which could not cater for his disability needs and made it quite uncomfortable for him to adjust and blend in to the environment. However, Dr Sathekge soon overcame the un-comfortability and was now learning new ways to take care of himself he adjusted and blended in with his scholastic community where he participated in music, drama , writing production, softball and eventually became a senior softball umpire.

Coming from a disadvantaged family made it very hard for Dr Sathekge in his high school days because his parents could not afford to give him pocket money for school. He ended up selling loose cigarettes to his high school peers so that he could make some pocket money for himself. Despite his physical and financial challenges Dr Sathekge was academically good. He was so good to a point where everyone urged him to consider pursuing a career in medicine, which he did not understand nor see any reason for him to pursue due to the nature of his disability. Little did he know that those that urged him to pursue medicine stopped seeing him as disabled, but saw the performance and potential in him instead. Furthermore, Dr Sathekge started living a normal life like any other man of his age, he even had a girlfriend which everyone admired.

After completing his grade 10 Mr Crawford sent someone to find Dr Sathekge and bring him to his house in Polokwane. It was the first time Dr Sathekge spent a night in a white man’s house. Mr Crawford found Dr Sathekge a holiday job in a bakery in Seshego where he swept floors in the flour store room. During the mid-year holidays in June Mr Crawford presented Dr Sathekge’s mid-year report to the bakery manager where Dr Sathekge achieved 97 percent in mathematics. Due to his outstanding results, the bakery manager decided to entrust Dr Sathekge with more responsibilities which now involved recording petrol pump meter readings. By the end of the year Dr Sathekge was now promoted to cashier, a position which was highly unwanted due to the nature of its complexity and responsibility.

Dr Sathekge grew trust of his employer to a point where he was now entrusted with accounting duties of the business and was also entrusted with the companies’ safe keys. Dr Sathekge was counting thousands of Rands daily and became so good with what he was doing to a point where Mr Crawford was convinced and advised Dr Sathekge to consider becoming an accountant. By the time Dr Sathekge was studying for his matric in a college just outside Polokwane, Dr Sathekge was faced with two options to either study medicine which everybody urged him to follow, or to pursue a career in accounting.

Despite Dr Sathekge having doubts about being physically fit to become a medical doctor due to his impediments, he was accepted at Medunsa on a Scholarship program from the Lebowa homeland government. Dr Sathekge was urged to de-register by Medunsa once his disabilities were known, as they thought that he would not cope with the study program due to the nature of his disability. Dr Sathekge declined the offer to de-register and persisted in studying Medicine.

Dr Sathekge drew a lot of inspiration and motivation from Mr Crawford, he saw him as a father figure and continued to keep contact with him throughout his time at Medunsa. In his second year at Medunsa, Dr Sathekge started experiencing severe anxiety because in the third year, students start doing practical lessons in the medical wards and for someone with his medical condition, this came as a disadvantage where physical dexterity and some physical strength was required when working with patients. Dr Sathekge became anxious and knew he had to overcome his fear and his limitations.

It was in the course of his of his second year at Medunsa where Dr Sathekge consulted with a local doctor in Seshego to gain advice if he could or could not make it as a medical doctor. The doctor advised that his will power should see him through in his profession, however due to his pathological fear of failure he failed his second year examinations, and was now forced to repeat his second year modules. While repeating his second year modules, Dr Sathekge gave up his Bakery Job and insisted on working in a hospital during his holidays which turned to be a big stepping stone for his career as he was now working with patients on a regular basis. In his fourth year Dr Sathekge topped his class academically, his colleagues were very supportive of him and gave him space. It was there where he was awarded his medical degree.

Career
In 1988 Dr Sathekge was offered an internship at the Groothoek hospital where he was offered a pairing session which meant that he had to have an assistant doctor aiding him all the time. Dr Sathekge questioned if this was a norm and was advised that the norm was for one intern to be on call at a time with no assistance. Dr Sathekge requested for him to be treated like any other doctor as he did not believe in any favours. The opportunity was granted for him to continue unassisted.

Dr Sathekge continued to work for two years as a medical officer in Psychiatry where he further declined offers for him to specialize in the psychiatry field as he had a deep desire to help his mother as a General Practitioner. In 1991 Dr Sathekge established his private practice in his home village where he currently works and serves his community.

Dr Sathekge has served as a board member of various NGO’s, community based organisations and also as a chairperson of a Hospital board. He was involved in the establishment of a HIV / AIDS clinic at Botlokwa Hospital and worked part time at an HIV/AIDS clinic at Polokwane hospital. He is currently serving as a board member of the HPCSA which was appointed by the National Minister of Health Dr, Aaron Motswaledi. He is serving in the medical registration subcommittee as a member responsible for policy formulation and the registration of foreign qualified medical practitioners. Furthermore, he serves in the internship subcommittee as an internship training evaluator. Dr Sathekge has been in practice for over 25 years and has been engaging with Private healthcare funders for over 25 years.

Dr Sathekge is a founder member of KG Maluleke Memorial Disability Integration Organization which is designed to integrate disabled Limpopo children into the mainstream as early as possible and believes that disabled schools are not the solution, which he says drawing from his own experience.

In his spare time, he enjoys working out in the gym, and spending time with his family.

Awards
Dr Sathekge was awarded with various accolades which include the following awards


 * The Van Ryn’s BBQ Award winner 2011: Award Title:Community Builder of the Year: Dr Morokolo Silas Sathekge as the General Manager of Letaba Helen Frans Bursary Scheme.