​As part of its 60th-anniversary celebrations, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is introducing 60 future healthcare professionals who are currently in their first year. Meet Lindokuhle Mazibuko.

Lindokuhle Mazibuko received nine distinctions in matric. He can play 11 musical instruments and one day wants to be remembered as the doctor who found the cure for HIV/Aids.

He plans on completing his MB,ChB-degree at the Stellenbosch University and then going on specialise in virology and then neurosurgery at Harvard University in the USA.

“I have learnt hard work is the key,” he shares the most valuable lesson his learnt in his life. “I don’t believe in short cuts.”

Mazibuko, a first-year student from Bergville in KwaZulu-Natal, is now a resident of Huis Kerkenberg. He says he chose to study medicine to change lives and make it into the history books.

He describes himself as curious and someone who questions just about everything. “I believe in myself and those that surround me. I strongly believe that I am special in God’s eyes and that I am destined for greatness.”

Mazibuko says adapting to the new environment this year has been difficult, especially with regards to making the necessary adjustments to survive and learn with the new academic challenges. The skill he’s most eager to learn during the course of his studies is perseverance.

“'Ayikho inkomo yobuthongo.' It’s a Zulu saying that means ‘no discomfort, no gain’.”

Quick questions:

• Favourite food: “Jeqe noBhontshisi (steamed bread and beans).”
• Message to the campus? “Never forget where you come from, where you are and where you are going.”
• YouTube or Instagram? “Khan Acadamy (on YouTube).”
• Best habit? “Reading up about HIV.”
• And worst? “Sleeping.”