Name: Dr Phathokuhle Zondi
Designation: COO & Clinical Lead
Company: Unu Health
What do you do every day?
No single day is the same at Unu Health and there’s a lot to love about that. In general, however, I spend my days looking into the future of Unu (strategy, people, performance) and also supporting current day-to-day activity that ensures client satisfaction. As Clinical Lead, I am responsible for the co-design and implementation of clinical protocols ensuring that Unu Health delivers safe and effective healthcare services to members.
How did you get into the tech space?
In the context of the question – tech found me. In its very early days, I was invited, through a colleague, to a conversation about Unu Health. The rest is history – I was hooked on the vision, purpose, and mechanism. It’s a no-brainer really, the only way we will bridge the gap we have in healthcare is by leveraging technology in various ways. It’s the only way to enable equitable access and quality – at scale and for all.
What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Pick your battles. Some battles aren’t worth your tears (and makeup) – walk away. Others are worth every last fight you have in you, every bruise, and every metaphorical broken bone. And when those come, you need to be ready, calm, and resilient.
What advise would you give to someone wanting to get into tech?
Don’t strive to be an expert in tech – you’ll never know everything there is to know about tech because the landscape changes too quickly. Rather aim to be an expert in mastering and adapting to the changes and progress in tech.
What motivates you to get out of bed every day?
Knowing that we’re making a difference to the people currently using our platform and, equally important, we’re making a difference to the landscape just by existing and pushing boundaries that change the way people access, experience and pay for healthcare. This difference is being felt by thousands of South Africans right now, and in time, will change the lives of millions of Africans. Who wouldn’t get up for that?
What do you want to be when you grow up one day?
Without being smug, I honestly feel like I’m living the grown-up dream. The dream isn’t the role, it’s the process. The process of learning, unlearning, relearning, adapting, being impactful, staying relevant – being whoever my environment (and the world) needs me to be so that it’s better off. I always said that when I grow up I want to have passion, purpose, and love.
About The Author: Samantha
Samantha Perry is the owner and founder of SJ Perry PR, a small, independent agency that specialises in providing public relations and media relations services to small to medium-sized businesses. She recently served as the JHB Agency Lead for Irvine Partners, an integrated public relations and marketing agency. She has over 20 years' of experience writing for a range of media - print and online - mainly in the ICT sector including Computing SA (editor), ComputerWeek, and Brainstorm magazine (editor). In her capacity as a PR professional and consultant, she has and does work with a variety of companies including Google (South Africa & Nigeria), Salesforce, CLEVVA, Euphoria Telecom, Paymenow and Tiger Content (UK). She also has a Masters degree in ICT Policy & Regulation. She served on the IAB SA Marketing Council as the PR rep, has worked as an independent telecoms researcher for some of the analyst houses in that field and was regularly called upon to comment on telecoms issues in the press. Nowadays she can be found commenting on women in tech issues in the press and speaking at conferences on the subject and the issues women in the sector face.
More posts by Samantha