Renowned clinician, researcher and educator Professor Harry Seftel has passed away at the age of 94. For many, he was well-known for his radio appearances concerning health and medicine. Hailed as a “national treasure” by President Cyril Ramaphoa, Prof Seftel contributed greatly to the study of non-communicable diseases in South African populations and was a strident critic of apartheid.
The Wits Faculty of Health Science posted on Twitter/X: “The Faculty mourns the passing of Professor Harry Seftel, distinguished professor of medicine at @WitsUniversity. Renowned for making complex medical issues accessible to all, Prof. Seftel was a passionate advocate for health promotion.”
Born on 28 December 1928, Harold Cecil Seftel became an intern at Baragwanath Hospital in 1953 shortly after receiving his medical degree, and by 1982 was Professor of Medicine and Chief Physician at Hillbrow Hospital.
An outstanding clinician, he contributed greatly to the categorisation of infectious and non-infectious diseases among Black South Africans. He held numerous positions and received an honourary law degree from Wits.
His research interests focussed on diseases with a high prevalence in various South African populations: oral iron overload, cryptogenic cardiomyopathy and arterial hypertension among Black Africans; coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus among Asians and familial hypercholesterolaemia among Afrikaaners.
He encouraged research at many levels, authoring more than 200 publications in fields ranging from endocrinology to infective diseases. In doing so, he collaborated with many of the finest minds in their fields, locally and internationally.
Not content with confining his teaching to academia, he also educated the general public with presentations in the media, becoming a familiar face over the years. He became known for many catchphrases, with “trust no one, least of all yourself” being one of his most revealing.
Prof Seftel was also friends with Nelson Mandela, having met him at Wits University. While Nelson Mandela was in prison, he heard one of Prof Seftel’s broadcasts and reduced his salt intake to help with the health problems he suffered throughout his incarceration. Not surprisingly, Prof Seftel was a strident critic of apartheid and the gross inequalities it produced.
In his 1973 inaugural lecture at Wits, he said of the distribution of medical service South Africa: “The present situation is deplorable and shameful. The man from Mars who is due here shortly would find it quite incomprehensible. In particular he would find our system of priorities wholly illogical and immoral.”
