Samkele Mkumbuzi

Mr Samkele Mkumbuzi is a Public Health Pharmacist with over 7 years’ experience currently working on two multi-national Wellcome Trust funded projects in the Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine (UCT). Samkele completed his Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of the Witwatersrand. He is a previous recipient of the Dennis Jabulani Khoza Community Service award awarded by the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa Southern Gauteng Branch for his contribution to a youth-led NPO Primary Healthcare clinic in Central Johannesburg.

He has served as a member of the Provincial Pharmacovigilance Committee in the Eastern Cape Department of Health where he demonstrated his dedication to excellent pharmaceutical care by contributing to the latest Eastern Cape Child & Maternal Health primary and tertiary care formulary handbook. He previously co-led the Causality Assessment team for Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) during the COVID-19 pandemic, working closely with SAHPRA. For the profession, he is a member of FIDSSA, ESCMID and has held the position of secretary for the PSSA Border & Eastern Districts Branch and actively engages with the YPG.

Samkele’s dedication to empowerment extends to his involvement in health promotion, digital health & training programmes for healthcare professionals & communities, where he shares his expertise in Antimicrobial Stewardship. Currently completing his Master of Public Health at the University of Cape Town, Samkele’s research interest is in policy implementation and optimizing the use of antibiotics by enhancing the uptake of digital tools and systems thinking through a community-centred lens.