Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mbombela has achieved a groundbreaking medical milestone after successfully removing a complex Wilms tumour from a young child, marking the first operation of its kind in a public hospital in Mpumalanga.

The surgical team removed the kidney tumour, which had caused a dangerous obstruction in the veins draining the kidney. The condition was further complicated by a blood clot that had travelled from the renal vein into the inferior vena cava (IVC)—the large vein responsible for returning blood from the lower body to the heart.

The procedure required extraordinary precision, including the removal and reconstruction of parts of the affected veins to restore normal blood flow from the kidneys to the rest of the body.

The surgical team included Dr Dave Tasker, head of the clinical unit at Rob Ferreira Hospital; a paediatric surgeon from Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town; Dr Omar Khamag; and consultant anaesthetist Dr Paul Nepgen.

Mpumalanga’s MEC for Health, Ms Sasekani Manzini, praised the hospital for this historic achievement.

“We are delighted and proud of our doctors for doing such a massive job,” she said. “The fact that this operation is the first of its kind to be performed in our public hospital means a lot for us and, more importantly, for the people of the province. This achievement demonstrates our commitment to bringing better health services to our communities.”

Manzini added that the department aims to expand specialist services within Mpumalanga to ensure complicated cases can be treated at home rather than relying on Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Gauteng.

“To us, this is what we call ‘Umehluko wezempilo ebantwini’—a true difference in the health of our people,” she said.