When he was a child in the rural Eastern Cape, becoming a doctor seemed like only a fleeting dream for Zongezile Masonwabe Makrexeni.  But the dream has come true with a double-specialist crown for the Dora Nginza Hospital’s newest paediatric cardiologist.
And with his big heart, heaps of single-minded determination and a drive to help others achieve their dreams, Makrexeni, 38, said that was just the start.
His little patients who suffer from heart disease remain his number one priority – especially as he knows better than most where the majority of them come from.
Born in eMpindweni near Mthatha, Makrexeni grew up in the rural Eastern Cape.
“I was one of five children. Our family lived in two rooms. We cooked, lived and slept in one room. “After I became a doctor I built my parents a new house.
“My mom still talks about having a house with a passage and rooms and a kitchen with a hob and a light that you can switch on while cooking.
“My parents know that I am a doctor and for them that is enough.
“In the village my dad is now treated with great respect because his son is a doctor,” he said.
He had had a “fleeting thought” of becoming a doctor when he was a child.
“After I passed matric a teacher said my results were good enough to get into medical school.”
He had to wait a year to go  to university but got into the University of the Transkei.“At the time we heard about a guy called Pepeta and that he had made it.
“That he was specialising as a cardiologist,” Makrexeni said, referring to the current dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Nelson Mandela University, Professor Lungile Pepeta.
“He was a great inspiration because he was one of us. He wasn’t someone far away,” he said.
He got to meet Pepeta while  specialising in paediatrics at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital.
“He inspired me to specialise in paediatric cardiology.”
Since then the two of them have published a number of research articles to improve the diagnosis and treatment of children with rheumatic fever in the Eastern Cape.
Makraxeni also did his master’s degree thesis on the topic and wants to do an extensive screening and research study for his PHD.
He said the diagnosis was often missed, leaving children untreated, which led to damage to the heart valves needing surgery.
Makraxeni said the pair also wanted to campaign for the speedy opening of the cath lab at Mthatha’s Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital.
“About 60% of our patients come from the rural Eastern Cape, east of Mthatha.
“To get to Mthatha takes them hours, to get here (to Port Elizabeth) they have to travel for a day and then they have to make their way back home again.
“It is very stressful doing this work, ” he said, adding that his faith and the support of his church were carrying him through.
“I am also married to a doctor, Dr Chwayita Makrexeni, and it helps to have someone who knows what you are going through.
“For the parents of most of our patients, getting the news that their child has a heart problem is devastating.
I can see that it is a small problem that we can fix, but for them it is a huge thing.
“But then there are also those times that we as doctors have to decide that there is nothing that we can do.
“It is hard to let go like that,” he said. To inspire others who come from a similar background to his own, Makrexeni has written a book, Finding a purpose in life: My journey.
“Many of the young people I meet are broken. They are really struggling. They take drugs and they drink.
“They come from poverty, are fatherless and have been neglected.
“I want them to know that their backgrounds do not matter because God has a purpose for their life,” he said.
His book will be launched on July 20 at Nelson Mandela University.
He said he had no intention of leaving the Eastern Cape.
“People get a qualification and money and then they leave. I want to stay here and look after my family.
“The Eastern Cape is my home. If I am going to move it will be to Mthatha. This province is my home,” he said.