53-year-old Patricia Nhlapo has gone more than four months without her diabetes and other chronic medication because she cannot afford the R400 return trip to Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg. Nhlapo lives in Meriting informal settlement in Lenasia South and…
When Minenhle Mofokeng was 4 years old, her mother became worried about her daughter’s poor health, as she was constantly losing weight and had no appetite. She took her to several doctors before she finally got a diagnosis. Tests confirmed…
When 54-year-old Themba Sepeng developed a second sore on his foot in the space of a year, he followed the advice of his friends and consulted a traditional healer, who attributed it to witchcraft. In 2021, Sepeng, who lives in…
When 85-year-old Simon Seshibe and his 67-year-old wife, Rahab cannot get their diabetes medication at their local clinic in Sebayeng village northeast of Polokwane, they face a costly search for supplies that sometimes leaves them without treatment for days. The…
Managing a chronic condition like diabetes requires clear guidance, but a lack of adequate patient education in local clinics is turning routine daily treatments into dangerous hazards. More than four million South Africans are living with diabetes – a condition…
53-year-old Moipone Mahonko, who is partially blind, has suffered burns and cuts while cooking over an open fire since a prolonged electricity outage left 116 households in Lakeside Estate in Midvaal, Gauteng without power for more than four months after…
When Tshikota resident Dipou Moyo recently suddenly lost consciousness in the middle of the night, she was fortunate to have a relative who could drive her to Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital at 2am. “If he was not around, I could…
41-year-old Richard Lebea, who has lived with asthma since childhood, says living next to a wastewater treatment plant and an illegal dumping site on the outskirts of Seshego township in Limpopo is taking a toll on his health. For years,…
For Philile Hlophe, caring for three wheelchair-bound children living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) means managing their daily physical care in an overcrowded home, while constantly worrying about how to get them to healthcare facilities and into special-needs schooling. The…
Residents in Musina, Limpopo, are concerned about their health as sewage continues to flow through residential streets. Unreliable water supplies force some households to spend hundreds of rands per month buying water. Musina resident, Norah Ndlovu says she fears children…
A Soshanguve mother says her daughter suffered serious head injuries after allegedly being assaulted by a teacher in 2018 when she was six years old. The girl, now 14, requires specialised education and ongoing medical treatment after allegedly suffering serious…
Residents of Makhuvha village near Giyani in Limpopo say they have been struggling to access clean water since a communal borehole stopped working in March last year, forcing families to buy water or collect it from unsafe sources. Christine Mashel…
24-year-old Regomoditse Kgomo has struggled to access specialist treatment for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) and endometriosis through Gauteng’s public healthcare system since losing her medical aid in 2023. Despite repeated clinic visits and three requests for a referral at…
For 47-year-old Jonas Molefe Motau, who is blind, getting to work means navigating rocky roads, potholes and a busy road without a pedestrian crossing in Stinkwater, Hammanskraal. Motau walks more than four kilometres to and from his workplace at the…
When Forget Ndou’s sister went into labour in March this year, she had to run about a kilometre from her home at 2am to find a cellphone signal so she could call an ambulance. The 36-year-old Brenda Muleba was experiencing…
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