Sindisiwe van Zyl (3 April 1976 – 10 April 2021), was a Zimbabwean-born

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, radio DJ, columnist, health activist and

research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

er known for using

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

and mainstream media to share

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

-related,

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental hea ...

reproductive health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, healthcare, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual wellbeing during all stages of their life. The term can also be further de ...

, other medical and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

information. She won several awards for her work. Because of her extensive public health advocacy, she was known as "the people's doctor".

Early life and education

Van Zyl was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

(now

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

). For secondary education she attended

Arundel School Arundel School is a private, day and boarding school for girls aged 12–18 in Harare, Zimbabwe. Arundel School was ranked 48th out of the top 100 best high schools in Africa, based upon quality of education, student engagement, strength and acti ...

. For tertiary education she attended the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 ...

where she obtained a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in human physiology and psychology, and a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree. Dr Sindisiwe Van Zyl interned at

Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa, it is the largest hospital in Africa and third largest hospital in the world. It has 6,760 staff members, 3,400 beds and occupies . The hospital is located in the Sow ...

. In 2004, she married Marinus van Zyl.

Career

She used

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, mainly, to inform and engage about

particularly prevention of mother-to-child transmission. She also appeared frequently on TV, radio and other media platforms. She shared about her personal journey with depression and

physician burnout Physician burnout has been classified as a psychological syndrome that can be expressed as a prolonged response to due chronic occupational stressors. In the practice of medicine, it has been known to affect a wide variety of individuals from medic ...

. Dr. van Zyl chronicled how she lost 41 kg while on a Banting diet. She was a natural short sleeper requiring about 4 hours of

sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

per night while functioning normally. Her

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

research has included guidelines to support HIV-affected individuals and couples to achieve pregnancy safely and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and HIV co-infection. She held various roles in the

South African Medical Association The South African Medical Association (SAMA) is a non-statutory, professional association for public- and private-sector medical practitioners in South Africa. Registered as a non-profit organisation it acts as a trade union for its public-secto ...

. She was a member of

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. ...

Southern Africa's Board of directors. Because of her extensive public health advocacy, she was known as "the people's doctor". Her media affiliations included: * Columnist for Health24, '' Bona magazine, Choma magazine'' * Radio DJ

Kaya FM Kaya FM 95.9 is a commercial radio station that broadcasts from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. History Kaya FM was launched in August 1997, and was one of the first frequencies to be approved for private commercial radio in South Africa. ...

hosting Sidebar with Sindi * Guest artist in the soap opera 7de Laan

Death

On 10 April 2021, she died at the age of 45 from

. Her funeral was on 15 April 2021. Memorials of Dr Sindi included people posting themselves on social media wearing dresses with pockets, which was her signature style.

Awards and honors

* ''

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular cult ...

'' (2012) 200 Young South Africans * Glamour Women of the Year (2018) - awarded for excellence and activism in health and medicine

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Zyl, Sindisiwe 1976 births 2021 deaths People from Harare South African women physicians South African physicians 21st-century South African physicians Alumni of Arundel School University of Pretoria alumni 21st-century women physicians South African radio presenters South African women radio presenters South African columnists South African women columnists Zimbabwean emigrants to South Africa Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa