A requiem for Botsile–Zikhali
Tshwarelo Hosia | Tuesday August 13, 2024 09:11
The news of her untimely and premature passing did not reach me through the conventional channel. As it is becoming a norm, I was left a little 'paralysed' and with a sense of disbelief to discover accidentally through the notorious messenger of doom - the social media - that my student and my doctor is no more. A sad way to find out about the loss of someone so close and so dear. Such precious news in my old conservative world would have been delivered differently. Not that it would have made any difference in terms of the excruciating pain one is feeling but that was our way of doing things. I had no one to console me and quickly remembering I am 57, I had to rally myself and call her closest classmate at Lotsane Senior Secondary School that is also a fellow 'labourer' in the medical trenches, Dr Tumisang Masheleng, to deny the news. I was not ready for a confirmation note. All I wanted to hear was that the social media was at it again- spreading lies. My wish was shattered when Dr Masheleng said that he had also just received the news and was still processing, trying to come to terms with the shocking development.
Reality then crept in. Taking a bit of a tour of her life course and education journey, I must say her character was clean, unblemished and beyond reproach. It was the discipline that helped her blossom into what she became later in life. She was a phenomenal young lady, an accomplished medical doctor who gave 110% to everything she did. She completed her Cambridge studies at Lotsane with distinction in 1997, having joined the school in 1995. Teachers who handled Lizzy, especially at Lotsane, would unanimously tell that as a student she was a ready-made, polished and teachable material. A student who made teachers want to come to work the next day. She made the usually laborious and daunting teaching load of a teacher relatively easy and manageable. In spite of her razor sharp intellectual mind, she never demonstrated any tinge of intellectual arrogance.
She was a humble student who respected her teachers and peers including the less gifted. Her radiant smile was her birth and trademark. What a genius! Her teachers knew that she was destined for greatness and poised to go places. It is small wonder that later in life she chose to study medicine at an international university of repute in the Republic of Ireland and came up tops to become one of the best Haematologists this country has ever had. I am in the habit of calling my former students in the medical field when experiencing confusing medical complications. One of my student-cum- doctor I frequently contacted for medical direction was the late Dr Oduetse Ratshipa and later Dr Tumisang Masheleng and Dr Botsile-Zikhali. If my memory serves me well, my last call to Lizzy was in May 2024. I said to her, Dr Ratshipa used to take care of me and that he is late, she must step into his shoes and look after my health. She gladly accepted this role and she 'officially' became my family doctor and adviser. And in the same call I tasked her to manage the condition of one of my closest family member.
She agreed. We missed the appointment and after a few weeks, I sent her a message to make a fresh appointment and uncharacteristically she never responded. And I sent another message sometime in July to say it is I, Hosia, your teacher and that still did not attract any response. I thought she was too busy and would reach me at her earliest convenience. She never did. With hindsight benefit now, I know she was not well. She also generously placed her family at my service. I once had a freak ear injury at home. While sleeping, my naive six-year-old boy poked an instrument into my ear. It was so scary and for a moment, judging by the stream of blood coming out of the ear, I thought my eardrum was perforated. I rushed to a private clinic in Phakalane and the doctor who examined me confirmed my fears and referred me to Dr Zikhali at GPH. Being the ever-doubting Thomas, I called Lizzy to confirm Dr Zikhali’s credentials. I did not know the connection between the two. After Lizzy's assurance and upon learning of her connection to Dr Zikhali, I visited his clinic. And true to the character as I was told, Dr Zikhali offered excellent service. He gave me a royal treatment and after a subjection to a thorough examination, I got an assurance that the eardrum was merely scratched on the surface and not damaged. At Lotsane, Lizzy's equally gifted classmates were Dr Masheleng, Dr Tshepho Gabathuse-Kopano, Moshie Ratsebe and Petrus Sebina, among others. All made it in life, making their immediate families, teachers and nation proud. The loss of a specialist of Lizzy's calibre in a country suffering from a drought of specialists is a tragedy.
Sometimes one cannot help thinking that fate is conspiring to undermine the country's human resource development agenda. The world will be much poorer without the humility, radiant smile and educated mind of Dr Botsile-Zikhali. May the husband and children, father, siblings and the entire Botsile-Zikhali clans be comforted in this trying season.