A 27-year-old Cape Flats doctor has traded in his stethoscope for politics and is rolling up his sleeves to tackle council issues as he takes on one of the most powerful jobs at the City of Cape Town.
This week Dr Zahid Badroodien was named the youngest mayco member on the new committee named by Mayor Dan Plato and says he is ready to help improve services to Cape Flats residents.
Zahid, who grew up in Rylands and is the eldest child of Razak and Nerima Badroodien, says he is no stranger to hard work after spending years working in Haroon’s Moslem Butchery in Bonteheuwel, owned by his dad.
“I matriculated from Westerford High School in 2008 and went to Stellenbosch University to study medicine, but as a child, my father always had us in the butchery on weekends.
“Not so much with the intention of us taking over but to show us hard work.
“I always say the people of Bonteheuwel helped fund my education and I hold them close,” Zahid says.
After high school, Zahid became interested in politics and joined the Democratic Alliance Youth, of which he is the national chairperson today.
He completed his medical degree in 2015 and worked as an intern at Tygerberg Hospital.
A year later he made the City’s Public Representative (PR) list and was sent to work as a PR councillor with Wesbank ward councillor, Ricardo Saralina.
He then completed his community service at Nolungile Clinic in Khayelitsha and says it was tough juggling his two jobs, but he made it work.
He hung up his stethoscope in February and says he quit medicine and turned to politics to help people after experiencing “horror stories” at the clinic.
Meanwhile back home, he says while he faces pressure from his family to get married, his parents are very supportive of his decision.
“It was an adjustment for them to accept that I have left medicine after six years of studying and three years of working.
“My role in medicine has changed. While I may not practise medicine in the near future, I see my space being one in which I’m able to influence health policy which will then have a positive impact on the way people experience the health system.
“What people don’t know is that it’s actually hard to find work as a doctor in South Africa because there is no space to pay them and many of the people I studied with are now working in other countries.
“Dan (Plato) called me in and said he had consulted widely and wanted me on his team.
“I have not heard anything about my age but I don’t see it as a deterrent,” he adds.
Zahid says he is excited about his new role and will be responsible for service delivery for Area South, which includes Mitchells Plain and False Bay, taking over from Eddie Andrews.