The Department of Surgery, University of Limpopo (Medunsa Campus)

Abstract

The Medical University of Southern Africa (Medunsa), as it was formerly known, came into being in 1978 following an Act of Parliament that motivated for the establishment of a medical university to rectify the dire underrepresentation of the black community in the South African health system. The main aim was therefore to train black doctors, dentists,
veterinarians and allied health professionals who would be able to meet the demands of the South African health system; at the time over 90% of medical personnel (at least as far as doctors and specialists were concerned) were white. The University was built in a mountainous landscape, approximately 31 km from the Pretoria central business
district and bordering on the North West Province, formerly known as Bophutatswana. Ga-Rankuwa Hospital, now known as Dr George Mukhari Hospital, situated in the Ga-Rankuwa
township, was the University's first teaching hospital. The hospital was established in 1973 as a district hospital before being converted to an academic hospital in 1978. It
had 39 wards and over 2 000 beds, and was the second largest hospital in South Africa.

South African Journal of Surgery Vol. 44 (1) 2006: pp. 4-5