He is a big advocate of health and believes that “health is the new wealth”. Mukelani Lancellot Muhlare, a Senior Occupational Health Practitioner, is in the health profession because it fulfilled his dream of helping the sick. “When I see an ill person get better, that is very fulfilling for me. Health is the new wealth. You cannot do anything when you are ill. A healthy person has many wishes but an ill person only one and that is to get better.”
Mukelani has been working for over half a decade and loves how every day is different. His day normally starts at 07:30. Some days he is in the office while on other days he’s out in the field for health talks or assessments.
He is based at the Metro Centre in Braamfontein, Region F. Some of his duties include ensuring employees work in a safe and conducive environment and that they are healthy.
Mukelani hails from Limpopo. Growing up in Mafarana, a village in Tzaneen, he found himself naturally looking after his siblings’ wounds. He was the youngest of 10 siblings.
Initially he wanted to become a doctor because he mostly saw female nurses at clinics.
He came to stay with his brother in Ennerdale to finish his high school. He works hard to excel in what he does. After matriculating, he obtained a Nursing Diploma from Ann Latsky Nursing College. He also holds an Honours in Administration and Education specialising in Occupational Health (Cum Laude) from University of Johannesburg (UJ), a Master’s in Nursing Science in Professional Nursing Science: Ethos and Professional Practice (Cum Laude) from UJ and he is currently pursuing a PhD and aims to complete it by 2025. He also has a course in research methodology (cum laude) under his belt.
He completed one-year community service at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital and started working as a professional nurse in Soweto in 2017 before he moved to Region F.
He describes himself as strict and selfless. One thing is also clear: he loves sharing information to ultimately seeing others progress.
Mukelani is a husband and father of three, two boys and a girl. He is a devoted family man. “I believe to build a healthy society starts with building strong families with strong values. Growing up we believed it takes a village to raise a child, now we lost that.
“Family is everything. If we build strong families many social issues and even illness will disappear. A strong and supportive family with shared roles takes the strain of a mother to raise children alone.”
He keeps fit and trains regularly. He also spends a lot of time doing academic reading or South African fiction.
As a parting shot, he adds: “Individuals need to be responsible for their own health. Look at what you eat, drink water and exercise, with enough rest in between.”
Written by Brümilda Swartbooi
09/06/2023