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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
ONE of Bulawayo’s top medical doctors, Dr Nhlanhla Mgodla has died.
He was 64.
Dr Mgodla died on Sunday morning at Mater Dei Hospital after a short illness.
He will be buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo on Sunday.
A service will be held at Selbourne Park Seventh Day Adventist church just before his burial at 730AM.
His daughter Miss Lindelwe Mgodla expressed sadness at her father’s death.
She said he was a supportive father who stopped at nothing to see his children achieve their dreams.
She said Dr Mgodla’s death was not only felt by his family but also many Bulawayo residents whose lives he touched in a career spanning over 30 years.
“Although he has left a gap in the family, he has left an even bigger gap in the Bulawayo community because many people relied on his medical expertise,” she said.
Miss Mgodla said her father started his career in 1982 at Mpilo Central Hospital after attaining his medical degree from Russia in 1981.
“He worked as a junior medical doctor from 1982 at Mpilo Hospital before being transferred to Chinhoyi General Hospital. After serving at the hospital he was promoted [and deployed] to Filabusi in Matabeleland South where he served as the District Medical Officer,” said Miss Mgodla.
She said in the late 1980s, Dr Mgodla trained as an ear, nose and throat surgeon at the United Bulawayo Hospitals after which he worked as a private medical practitioner.
“He began his private practice in 1989. During his tenure he specialised in maternity cases, family planning services at the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council in Gwanda. He was also an on-call doctor for minor surgeries at the Bulawayo Lancet Theatre,” she said.
Miss Mgodla said her father operated as a doctor for several companies and parastatals that include Zimpost and TelOne, Nissan Clover, How Mine, and Casmyn Mine.
A Bulawayo doctor Dr Muriel Falala described the late doctor as a soft spoken and kind man who dedicated his life to saving lives.
She said Dr Mgodla specialised in maternal services and delivered many babies.
He is survived by a wife and four children.
Mourners are gathered at Number 37 Muchbinding Road, Worringham.
@nqotshili
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