12/12/2025
Hanging Up the Scrubs: Stephen Mohotsi’s 34-Year Journey of Restoring Sight and Changing Lives
By Nelson Mafulo
After more than three decades of dedicated service, 65-year-old Stephen Mohotsi, a senior nurse and long-serving team member of the South African National Council for the Blind’s (SANCB) Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness, is preparing to hang up his scrubs. His retirement marks the close of a remarkable 34-year journey defined by compassion, sacrifice, and the quiet power of restoring sight.
Originally from Pankop in Hammanskraal, on the outskirts of Pretoria bordering Limpopo, Stephen joined SANCB in 1990 at the age of 30. Even then, his calling was clear. “My passion has always been in eye health,” he says. “I saw blind people go into theatre and walk out with their lives changed. Eye health work is immediate, you see the results right away.”
Though he briefly stepped away in 1994 to work in the insurance industry, it did not take long for him to realise where his heart truly lay. The theatre, the cataract teams, and the patients waiting for a chance to see again pulled him back. In January 1995, Stephen rejoined SANCB and, as he says, “I never looked back.”
One memory stands out above all others. While the Bureau was working in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, Stephen was approached by the daughter of an elderly man from his own village, Pankop. The man was blind in both eyes due to mature bilateral cataracts. Stephen arranged for him to be brought to Thabazimbi immediately. The patient was admitted the same day and underwent surgery.
“When he returned for his 14-day post-operative review, our team happened to be working there again,” Stephen recalls. “He was booked for surgery on the second eye two months later. He was so happy.” The man, a pastor, was able to resume all his duties. “That’s what this work does-it gives people their lives back.”
Stephen explains that eye health differs profoundly from working in a hospital ward. “An elderly person may walk in using a stick, but after surgery they walk out without it. That kind of change stays with you.”
Beyond restoring sight, SANCB shaped Stephen’s life in unexpected ways. “This place gave me things I didn’t have,” he reflects. During the final years of apartheid, he obtained his driver’s licence, a milestone he credits to his time at SANCB. Long cataract tours meant weeks away from home, but they also provided opportunities to practise driving Bureau vehicles. “When I was ready, I booked my test and passed.”
When Stephen joined SANCB, he spoke Setswana and English. Today, after decades of working in communities across the country, he confidently communicates in all of South Africa’s languages. “When you go into the field, especially with senior citizens, language matters,” he says. “They don’t compromise. You take services to them-you must speak their language.”
His travels transformed him from someone who knew only Pretoria and Hammanskraal into what he proudly calls “a walking GPS.” “I can go to any town in South Africa without using navigation,” he laughs. His very first cataract outreach was a two-week tour in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, focused on eye screenings and operations. It was a baptism by fire that set the tone for his career.
Stephen’s final cataract tour took place in Witbank in December 2025, where the team conducted 14 cataract surgeries, generously sponsored by Glencore Coal South Africa. It was a fitting end to a career spent in theatres, on dusty roads, and alongside teams united by purpose.
Though retirement beckons, Stephen is far from slowing down. “I still have a lot more to give,” he says. His plans include raising animals, starting a scholar transport business, and, should the need arise, returning to support the Bureau. Eye health advocacy remains close to his heart; he even cautions a neighbour who does welding work without protective goggles. “You must protect your eyes,” he warns. “Your sight is everything.”
Asked which town captured his heart most during his travels, Stephen does not hesitate: Clanwilliam in the Western Cape. Stephen says he loves the town’s friendly, laid-back atmosphere, with its local shops, farm stalls, citrus orchards, and surrounding farmlands that give it a unique rural charm.
Behind the scenes, his family journey mirrored his professional one. Early on, his wife struggled with the long hours and extended travel. Over time, she adapted, becoming, in Stephen’s words, “the queen of the house who called the shots.” He smiles as he adds, “Work actually helped keep our marriage intact.
We’d be together for a short time, and before any arguments could start, I’d be back on the road.”
As Stephen Mohotsi hangs up his scrubs on 11 December 2025, SANCB bids farewell to more than a senior nurse. We honour a man whose hands restored sight, whose voice bridged languages, and whose journey helped shape eye health outreach across South Africa.
His legacy will be seen in every person who walks confidently into the light again.
www.sancb.org.za | 012 452 3811
