Home PodcastJulie Alli Dr Randall Ortel, the Manenberg Taxi Driver Who Became a Doctor

Dr Randall Ortel, the Manenberg Taxi Driver Who Became a Doctor

by Thaabit Kamaar

Photo by [Independent Online]

Manenberg, the notorious Western Cape suburb, is known for its crime, drugs and gangsterism. However, Dr Randall Ortel provides a different perspective on the community and its pivotal role in his achievements.

Before becoming a family physician and medical practitioner, Dr Ortel was just an ordinary child learning and navigating this harsh environment.

Growing up, he had been inquisitive and fond of school. He loved learning and interacting with people from his community. A local doctor and family friend inspired him to pursue a career in medicine.

Dr Ortel said the close-knit community of Manenberg offered him a fair amount of stimulation which developed his social and personal skills. However, without the guidance of his parents, particularly his father, whom he describes as a “no-nonsense guy”, he would not be where he is today.

Amidst all the challenges in the community, his parents allowed him the freedoms befitting a child. He was allowed to play with his friends and explore his environment. However, if he strayed off slightly, his father would be close behind, nudging him back onto the straight and narrow.

“He would always guide me and tell me, I don’t like that behaviour, or I don’t like this or I see you hanging out there. He left me [to play]. I was in the streets. You know he never judged people, but he would always tell me, I’m noticing a trend with you that could be your downfall. So that is [what] kept me in check, but they still allowed me to be a child.”

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The Resident Taxi Driver

While studying, Dr Ortel drove a taxi on the weekend. Moreover, he drove in his spare and vacation time to make enough money for shortages in bursary funds, university books and day-to-day expenses.

The decision to become a taxi driver was well thought out. He could have worked at local food chains, but the wages would not be sufficient.

“I just looked at this whole thing, and I thought, I need to have a job where I can be in control … [Where] the more I put in, the more I can get out. I assessed, and I looked. And boom, the penny just dropped. Why don’t I [drive] a taxi? I did all the preparation work, checked what needed to happen and so forth.”

He became well-known in his community for being a taxi driver. All the while, no one knew he was a medical student. Over time, driving taxis became quite lucrative for him, the taxi owner, and the “shouter”.


Taxi Driver, Medical Practitioner and Local Activist

Dr Ortel said everything a person needs to succeed resides within the community. Therefore, he understood the benefits of staying in Manenberg, which allowed him to work and empower people, to be in the loop and keep his ear to the ground.

“I mean, people come to me like, Randall, you just made the impossible seem possible. And what I always tell people is we’ve got all the resources in the community. You just need to tap into it … Everything is in the community. I mean the streetwise skills we learn, how to hustle and so forth.”

He said that apart from the gang violence, the streets of Manenberg are generally safe and are a place where kids play, and community members interact the most.

The streets of Manenberg are a place where people learn practical and beneficial life skills, and it is a viable platform to spread positivity, a motto he embodies. Therefore, he realised it is a suitable place to engage with children and young adults to teach them about healthcare. Something he does online as well.


The Dr Randall Ortel Foundation

Dr Ortel said there are many graduates in Manenberg, “The unfortunate thing is that they leave at a rate at which they qualify”.

He is in the early stages of developing the Randall Ortel Foundation. This platform will assist graduates, activists and NGOs in the area.

“There’s a lot of good people in Manenberg, a lot of NGOs, and a lot of people doing work, but sometimes they lack that administrative skills and then the organisation is not sustainable. So one has to reinvent the wheel all the time … So I think that my organisation or foundation will bridge the Gap, and we will see more good work coming into Manenberg.”

It will be a model which supports ongoing and future NGO projects and people who need a sustainable and organised framework.













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