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Presidium

Prof Zach Koto
PRESIDENT
Professor Zach Koto is Professor of Surgery and department chairman at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University.
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PROF DANIEL MONTWEDI
SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT
Prof Mergan Naioo
Vice President
Professor Mergan Naidoo is an Associate Professor and Head of Clinical Unit in the Discipline of Family Medicine  at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Wentworth Hospital.
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Professor Johan Fagan
IMMEDIATE President
The Senate of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) has elected Professor Johan Fagan as its President for the May 2022-2025 triennium.
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Professor Zach Koto

PRESIDENT

Professor Zach Koto is Professor of Surgery and department chairman at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University. He graduated with a doctoral degree in surgery form UKZN and attained his FCS(SA) in 1992. From 1994 to 2011 he was Head of General Surgery at Sebokeng Hospital where he trained many young medical officers and rotating registrars from the University of Witwatersrand. In 2011, Prof Koto attained his FACS degree and later that year, was appointed as the Head of General Surgery at the University of Limpopo, Medunsa Campus (which was re-named Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in 2015.

Author of more than 42 publications, Professor Koto is a pioneer in laparoscopic procedures in the management of trauma patients and is renowned for performing the first laparoscopic aortobifemural bypass graft in South Africa in 2012. It is passion for teaching and developing laparoscopic surgery in South Africa that sets him apart from the rest. Not only does Prof Koto encourage laparoscopic proficiency in registrar training, he also hosts regular laparoscopic workshops for all those who are willing to learn the skill and he hosts the annual TOTMAS (Tricks of the Trade in Minimal Access Surgery) Congress to share his experience and knowledge.

Professor Koto’s involvement in surgical training goes far beyond his own university and department. He has been an executive committee member of many surgical societies including ASSA (The Association of Surgeons of South Africa), SASES (South African Society of Endoscopic Surgeons) and SRSSA (The Surgical Research Society of South Africa).

The SASSiT Swann-Morton Silver Scalpel Award for 2017. The Silver Scalpel award recognizes that consultant demonstrating excellence in leadership, professionalism, communication and commitment to training and development. Candidates are nominated by surgical trainees in any surgical discipline and chosen by the SASSiT Executive Committee.

Professor Koto has served the CMSA as Senator since 2014, President of the College of Surgeons since October 2017 and member of the Finance and General Purpose Committee since October 2020.

Professor Zach Koto

PRESIDENT

Professor Zach Koto is Professor of Surgery and department chairman at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University. He graduated with a doctoral degree in surgery form UKZN and attained his FCS(SA) in 1992. From 1994 to 2011 he was Head of General Surgery at Sebokeng Hospital where he trained many young medical officers and rotating registrars from the University of Witwatersrand. In 2011, Prof Koto attained his FACS degree and later that year, was appointed as the Head of General Surgery at the University of Limpopo, Medunsa Campus (which was re-named Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University in 2015.

Author of more than 42 publications, Professor Koto is a pioneer in laparoscopic procedures in the management of trauma patients and is renowned for performing the first laparoscopic aortobifemural bypass graft in South Africa in 2012. It is passion for teaching and developing laparoscopic surgery in South Africa that sets him apart from the rest. Not only does Prof Koto encourage laparoscopic proficiency in registrar training, he also hosts regular laparoscopic workshops for all those who are willing to learn the skill and he hosts the annual TOTMAS (Tricks of the Trade in Minimal Access Surgery) Congress to share his experience and knowledge.

Professor Koto’s involvement in surgical training goes far beyond his own university and department. He has been an executive committee member of many surgical societies including ASSA (The Association of Surgeons of South Africa), SASES (South African Society of Endoscopic Surgeons) and SRSSA (The Surgical Research Society of South Africa).

The SASSiT Swann-Morton Silver Scalpel Award for 2017. The Silver Scalpel award recognizes that consultant demonstrating excellence in leadership, professionalism, communication and commitment to training and development. Candidates are nominated by surgical trainees in any surgical discipline and chosen by the SASSiT Executive Committee.

Professor Koto has served the CMSA as Senator since 2014, President of the College of Surgeons since October 2017 and member of the Finance and General Purpose Committee since October 2020.

Professor Mergan Naidoo

vice president

Mergan Naidoo (MBChB, M.Fam.Med, FCFP, MSc [Sports Medicine], Dip HIV Man, DipPEC, MHPE [Keele], PhD) is a Full Professor and Head of Clinical Unit in the Discipline of Family Medicine (FM) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and Wentworth Hospital (WWH). He coordinates the FM intern programme at WWH, the FM registrar programme at UKZN, and a module in the Postgraduate Diploma in Family Medicine at UKZN.

Prof Naidoo is a practising clinician and hospital generalist, providing direct patient care and clinical supervision for undergraduate medical students, interns, medical officers, and registrars at WWH. He has over a decade of experience in rural practice and continues to contribute to clinical governance and quality improvement at the hospital.

An NRF-rated researcher, his academic interests span infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, maternal health, primary emergency care, and health professions education, with a particular focus on assessment and workplace-based learning. He has supervised numerous Master’s and PhD students and has published widely in both local and international journals.

Prof Naidoo currently serves as the President of the South African Medical Association (SAMA) for the 2025–2026 term. He is also the President of the College of Family Physicians of South Africa (2023–2026) and the Vice-President of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) for 2025–2028. He is an active member of the Education and Training Committee of the South African Academy of Family Physicians (SAAFP) and its treasurer. 

He is a contributing editor of the South African Family Practice Manual, a key resource for undergraduate and postgraduate training across Africa, and an academic editor for the journal PLOS ONE.

His updated bibliography can be accessed here:

Mergan Naidoo Publications

Professor Johan Fagan

Immediate Past President

The Senate of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) has elected Professor Johan Fagan as its President for the May 2022-2025 triennium. He has served for six years as Senior Vice President.

After completing otolaryngology (ENT) training at the University of Cape Town UCT) and fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh, Johan Fagan was appointed the Leon Goldman Chair of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Cape Town in 2002. He has authored more than 250 articles and book chapters and delivered more than 200 lectures internationally. Johan was admitted to the College of Fellows of UCT in 2020 in recognition of his academic contributions.

Prof Fagan has focused much of his career on advancing otolaryngology in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In addition to training South African ENT surgeons, he has trained more than 20 ENT surgeons from other African countries. He established the 1st African fellowships for training in Head and Neck Surgery, Rhinology, Paediatric ENT, and Otology, and has personally trained 16 of the 21 head and neck surgeons in Sub-Saharan Africa. He founded the African Head and Neck Society (AfHNS), designed the AfHNS Head and Neck Fellowship programme that is being rolled out in 7 countries, and spearheads the novel AfHNS Clinical Practice Guidelines for Head & Neck Cancers that ensure optimal cancer care in resource constrained settings.

To address the unaffordability of medical textbooks for trainees and surgeons in LMICs, Prof Fagan self-publishes two free open access textbooks, The Open Access Atlas of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Operative Surgery, and The Open Access Guide to Audiology and Hearing Aids for Otolaryngologists, chapters of which have been downloaded approximately 4 million times. He received the Open Education Consortium (OEC) Award for Open Education Excellence (2017), and the UCT Open Textbook award (2020) in recognition of the Open Access Atlas.

He has also advanced African and LMIC agendas through serving on executive committees of the Pan African Federation of Otolaryngologic Societies (PAFOS) and the International Federation of Otolaryngologic Societies (IFOS), and through chairing the International Advisory Board of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery (AAOHNSF) and the International Advisory Service of The American Head and Neck Society.

Prof Fagan has constantly raised matters of social justice through writings about race bias and research, race bias and ethnicity in otolaryngology academic publications, vaccine nationalism, unethical recruitment of health care workers by the UK and USA during the Covid-19 pandemic, and rules of engagement for surgical outreach to LMICs. Johan has given numerous keynote lectures internationally about high income countries’ responsibility to address global inequality in healthcare.

He was awarded a gold medal by IFOS (2017), the Nikhil J. Bhatt, MD International Public Service Award by the AAOHNSF (2019), and a Paul Harris Fellowship by The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International (2021) in appreciation of his global contributions to otolaryngology.

Professor Fagan has been at the forefront of advancing the field of ENT in Africa where he has displayed great integrity, philanthropy, leadership and a commitment to redressing disadvantage and ensuring high standards of care for all. His election as President of the CMSA comes with a commitment to build on what he has done for ENT for medical and dental practice. Professor Fagan is well positioned to build on the legacy of the past Presidents of the CMSA, Professors Mike Sathekge and Flavia Senkubuge in serving its purpose of promoting the highest degree of skill and efficiency in medical and dental practice and to cultivating the highest ethical standards and professional conduct … not for pecuniary profit, but for the betterment of humanity.”

“The College is such an important organization, not only for South Africa, but more and more so for the surrounding countries as well, and we have so much to contribute. I have been schooled by two outstanding past presidents and we have outstanding staff at the top with Prof Eric Buch, Prof Vanessa Burch and Mrs Yolokazi Kanzi and I am just grateful for this opportunity. We have a wonderful team, with Professor Flavia Senkubuge as our Immediate Past President so we will not be losing her skill set, Professor Zach Koto who is extremely well thought of – especially within the general surgery community, and Professor Johnny Mahlangu who comes with exceptional skills. We will have a wonderful term together. Professor Senkubuge has done a great deal of work and initiated many changes during turbulent times which has paved the way for the incoming Presidium to hit the ground running”.

– Professor Johan Fagan, CMSA AGM 29 October 2021