“Still Looks Energetic”: Mzansi Celebrates As Wits Honours 94-Year-Old Cardiologist With Doctorate

• Wits University awarded a 94-year-old medical pioneer an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine on 15 July 2026
• Prof Kubedi Patrick Mokhobo became southern Africa’s first Black cardiologist and Bophuthatswana’s Minister of Health
• Four generations of his family watched him receive a standing ovation inside the Great Hall

Wits University honoured a 94-year-old medical pioneer with a Doctorate in Medicine on 15 July 2026. Prof Kubedi Patrick Mokhobo received the degree during a graduation ceremony in Johannesburg’s Great Hall.

The elderly doctor got a standing ovation as he crossed the stage. Four generations of his family watched from the audience as history was made once again.

Mokhobo started school at age 10 and studied medicine under apartheid rule. He was the only Black student in his Wits class back in 1953. Black South Africans then needed government permission just to attend certain universities.

He pushed through those barriers and became the first Black registrar in paediatrics and internal medicine. In 1966, he passed the prestigious Medical Fellowship examinations as the first Black doctor to do so. Two years later, he passed the British Specialist Examination in the United Kingdom.

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By 1973, Mokhobo had become southern Africa’s first Black cardiologist. He also practised medicine in Daveyton, Benoni, and helped found the Pan-Africanist Congress.

His influence spread far beyond South African borders. He became the first medical specialist in Eswatini and helped build Lesotho’s medical institutions from the ground up. He later served as Minister of Health in the former Bophuthatswana.

Mokhobo pushed for community healthcare and expanded the roles nurses could play as clinicians. He wrote his story in an autobiography titled From Nowhere to Somewhere: An Uncharted Destiny.

His granddaughter, Nonceba Nyoko, read his acceptance speech to the graduates. He told them their generation would shape both exciting and challenging times ahead.

Mokhobo urged the new graduates to chase opportunities anywhere in the world. He reminded them, though, that their success is tied to Africa’s future.

South Africans flooded social media with praise after Wits shared the story. Many said the tribute was long overdue for a man who broke so many barriers.

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Source: Briefly News