After tragically losing his mom to cancer in 2017, Zakes Bantiwni wants to be the silver lining of hope to people who are diagnosed with cancer.
The singer, producer and choreographer told TshisaLive that it isn’t fair that cancer patients continue to get turned away from hospitals simply because they cannot afford the treatment.
"This is something I have been passionate about for many years but the ball is rolling now. I will soon be registering my foundation and hopefully soon we can start building,” he told the publication.
Zakes is planning on opening a cancer hospital in KZN as soon as he has raised enough funds.
According to the article on TshisaLive, Zakes has been raising the funds needed for several years and he is now asking traditional leaders in the province to donate the land needed.
"Cancer treatment is expensive. I remember the doctors telling my mom's medical aid that she would stay in hospital even though she had exhausted her funds. It was heartbreaking. How can hospitals turn people away because of money? If you are from a rural area you don't even have money and now you have to pay serious money before you even start treatment. It is not right,” he said.
Zakes said that the loss of his mother was the most painful thing he has ever experienced.
He is now leveraging off of what he went through to turn his pain into hope for someone else.
He is asking for South Africans to donate whatever they can to his foundation and hopes to one day open a second hospital in the Eastern Cape.
