KZN Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo donates blood at the SANBS donor centre at Mega City in uMlazi, while clinic supervisor Sister Ntombifuthi Cele looks on. Picture: Supplied

Following the busy festive season, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has appealed for blood donations.

This was the message from MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo who, on Wednesday, donated a unit of blood at a South African National Blood Service (SANBS) depot at uMlazi Mega City.

“With the main source of blood – students – being away for the holidays, and factories closed, the service currently has enough blood to last just three days in the province,” he said in a statement.

Dhlomo, who is a regular universal O-blood type donor, said: “We often hear of a shortage of blood and that is always concerning because if there’s a shortage, then it means you can’t access blood from our hospitals. So, I’m here to give my contribution but also to plead with South Africans consider donating blood.”


In order to become a blood donor you must:

  • Weigh at least 50kg;
  • Be between the ages of 16 and 65;
  • Lead a safe sexual lifestyle;
  • Be in general good health; and
  • Consider your blood safe for transfusion to a patient.


The Mercury