Local medical student drowns in Cuba
The students, Sihle Cebo Makhaye and Sibusiso Thanks Ngelekaboth, reportedly drowned in a swimming pool during a birthday party
MEC for Health in KZN, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, is expected to visit the uMkhanyakude District on Saturday to offer support to the bereaved family of one of the final year medical students who died in Cuba.
The students, Sihle Cebo Makhaye and Sibusiso Thanks Ngelekaboth, reportedly drowned in a swimming pool during a birthday party.
‘One of the students is from Ogwini and the other from the uMkhanyakude District,’ provincial department spokesperson Desmond Motha said.
It could not be confirmed which of the students is from uMkhanyakude.
Motha said the Health Department, with the help of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the embassy, is finalising arrangements for the bodies to be brought back to South Africa.
The KZN Department of Health is also arranging trauma counselling for family members.
To address the shortage of doctors in the country, SA has been sending young aspirant doctors from poor communities for medical training at Cuban universities, while also recruiting some Cuban doctors to local shores.
There are currently 2 885 South African medical students in Cuba.
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