Hailing from Lebowakgomo, Limpopo, Natasha Mfokwane describes her childhood as filled with joy and warmth. Despite losing her father at a young age, her mother, who is also a nurse, stepped in as a steadfast rock and inspiring role model, shaping Mfokwane’s foundation and fuelling her future aspirations.
Initially drawn to psychology, Mfokwane later found a passion for nursing and now works at a reproductive clinic, providing essential services like pap smears, contraceptives, and abortion care. Her unique approach includes outreach programmes, that educate young girls in neighbouring communities about safe and accessible healthcare.
“I was born and raised in a township called Lebowakgomo. My childhood and family life were good. My dad was a policeman, and he died when I was six years old. I am now left with my mom, who is working as a nurse, and she has done a good job raising me to become the woman I am today.”
“In high school, I took the science stream because I knew I wanted to be in the health sector. Nursing was not my first preference because I wanted to be a psychologist, so later on, I heard of a bursary for nursing. It sounded right to relieve my mom from the financial burden of expensive university fees, so I took the opportunity.”
Mfokwane shares that her mother motivated her to become a nurse because she would witness her excitement about the experience of assisting patients.
“I work at a reproductive clinic where I do pap smears, provide contraceptives, and perform abortions as well. It’s a supermarket approach, so different things happen on the same day. My work influences me in such a way that I have to create a safe space for clients to be able to open up and be free around me.”
Serving with passion and dedication
Beyond the clinic walls, she ensures to educate young girls about contraceptives and how to seek safe and free abortion services and avoid going backstreet.
“It’s been a roller coaster of eight years in this profession. For me, the most difficult part of becoming a nurse has to be midwifery. I had to become a midwife, having to account for two people simultaneously while making sure that a woman leaves the hospital with a healthy baby and is in a good mental state.
“What I have learned about my career is that it needs people with passion and dedication because working with people’s lives requires one to have a good heart and know why they chose to be here.”
Reflecting on her journey, Mfokwane speaks about the difficulty of being a choice on termination of pregnancy (CTOP) provider due to the constant stigmatisation faced.
“The difficult part of being a CTOP provider is that our own colleagues and people in the communities call us names and stigmatise us.”
An advocate for women’s health
“The other challenge I face is that people in the community tend to have bad attitudes towards us because of encounters with other nurses. I overcome those challenges by having conversations about how we are different and how one bad potato doesn’t have to spoil the whole bag.”
In dedication to the work she does, Mfokwane says she would like to be remembered as an advocate for women’s health and reproductive rights and an activist in abortion services.
“The vision I have for the future of my career is to leave the department and become independent, have my own reproductive clinic, and continue serving the community with pride.”
“The advice I would give to aspiring people who want to enter this field is for them to do proper research because nursing is now broad and there are a lot of opportunities. They must first find their interest and work around that.”
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