We sat down with Dr. Duduza Shembe earlier this year, the owner of the Dentist at Scottsville practice on 21 Connaught Road which has been operating for 10 years. She talks about growing up in KZN, struggling through university, and finally opening her dental practice. You can view her services and operating times at www.dentistatscottsville.co.za
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Please tell us your personal history about where you grew up.
I grew up in various places, I was born in eMtunzini, Port Danford, and my mother then moved us to eNanda. From age five, I returned to eMtunzini, where I attended primary school – Shembe Memorial School for sub-A and Port Danford for sub-B – then Nyandezulu High School.
I was the first grandchild of my grandparents, and we stayed with a lot of people at home, as my father had already had children. From 2001 to 2004 I went to Pretoria and perused a qualification in radiography, I failed my first year of, and I finished in 2004, yet I finished dentistry in record time. I took a break and worked for two years before returning to school to study dentistry from 2007 to 2011. After returning to PMB in 2012, I did my community service at the eMbalentle clinic, moved to Grey’s hospital, and started my practice the same year.
I have always been fascinated by dentistry since I was a teenager. When my aunt was in the dental field, she would take me to her dental clinic and bring home dental mirrors, masks, and dental gear. I even wrote in my textbook that I would someday become a dentist. At that time, I was struggling with maths, and I was advised to move to commerce, but I chose to stay and improve because I knew I wanted to be a doctor, but dentistry was more appealing to me than anything else in the medical field. The first time I applied for dentistry, I was denied access and had to upgrade my math and science marks. This showed my determination to succeed. I chose radiography even though I wouldn’t say I liked it, and even at home, my parents wouldn’t let me drop out – with the belief that once you start something, you have to finish it. After working in radiography for several years, I realized that, still, I was not too fond of the field and reapplied to dentistry.
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Is there any difficulty in being a woman in dentistry – did having an aunt in the dental field help?
The only difficulty was financing, as I had to finance myself by working night shifts to send money home and support myself. Having an aunt in the field helped to inspire me, and my aunt is now a medical doctor.
Clients looked at me as if I was too young to be a doctor and white people only wanted to see white doctors, the same as Indians and blacks did not trust another black doctor. Many people would wonder, where is the doctor – when did you qualify – how young are you?
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What are the hurdles towards owning one’s practice?
As far as finances are concerned, I saved money but didn’t have enough, so I went to banks to try and get a loan, but no bank would give me one. Finally, I went to Capitec, and they gave me a loan of R 150 000, I bought an x-ray machine five years into the practice.
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How much did it cost in total?
200 to R 250 000, with dental chair, equipment, rent and salaries included. Then R 650 000 for the x-ray machine.
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Do you see a future where a client can trust a young black dentist immediately?
The more time passes, I see more and more racial diversity. Black people want discounts because they are black, we are brothers, and refuse to do co-pays because they are black.
Yes, in a way, but it depends where you are – I’ve seen with some of my colleagues in the bigger cities such as Joburg, so I think that counts as well.
The level of education of the client is also essential. But I do not see any changes happening in PMB – here. Customers expect a 5-star treatment for discounted prices.
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If a young dentist asks to work under you in PMB, would you advise?
I mentor a girl from Pietermaritzburg Girls High who is interested in dentistry. She comes and observes – I ask my patients if they don’t mind if she’s there during a procedure, and I’ve mentored other kids before, and one of them is now a dentist, Dr. Mbali Dlamini. Currently, I am mentoring a student named Bandile Mdlisi.
