The
story of Dr. George Mbolekwa is one of resilience and determination. It
is also inspirational. Born in Western Native Township, Johannesburg, he
achieved so well in school that he was awarded a scholarship to attend
high school in East London. Upon graduation, Dr. Mbolekwa was admitted
on scholarship, in 1949, as a pre-med student at University College, Fort
Hare, eventually graduating in medicine, 1955, from University of Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg. Interning first at the Charles Johnson Memorial Hospital,
Zululand, then at Baragwnath Hospital, Johannesburg, where he was one of
the first of his race to be admitted as an intern, Dr. Mbolekwa, after
working first in the Transkei, then Port Elizabeth, for nearly two years,
escaped imminent arrest in 1962. Fleeing Port Elizabeth and his beloved
South Africa by boat, Dr. Mbolekwa eventually arrived in England, practicing
in the U.K. until he immigrated to Canada in 1971 with his wife, Doris,
and their five children. An orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Mbolekwa, in this
1970 view, is holding his honoured certificate following his admittance
as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. [Photo, courtesy
Dr. George Mbolekwa]