What started as a toothache in 2021 led to a rare cancer diagnosis and years of medical treatment for 29-year-old Lerato Mosai. Four years later, the Sasolburg woman is bedridden and dependent on her mother for her daily care. Mosai…
Residents of Mafarafara village outside Burgersfort in Limpopo are again struggling to reach healthcare after a makeshift bridge across the Steelpoort River, also known as the Tubatse River, was washed away by heavy rains. The community-built crossing, made from corrugated…
Thapelo Tshabalala, author and co-founder of Tshwane Disability Empowerment Projects, knows what it is like to feel excluded because of a disability. Growing up, Tshabalala struggled to read and write and says he was repeatedly told by teachers and family…
When I started working on an article about men and suicide, I wanted to include the voices of men themselves. The SA Federation for Mental Health put out a call on our social media platforms, website and fortnightly newsletter asking…
At 58, Tankiso Khamadi continues to collect recyclable waste at the Nyakallong landfill in the Free State despite struggling with respiratory problems and being treated for tuberculosis (TB) last year. Khamadi is among a group of mostly older reclaimers who…
Dorothy Khomo from Duduza township, near Springs on Gauteng’s East Rand, had just returned from church and was eating with her family when she felt a chicken bone lodge in her throat. Her sister suggested eating brown bread to push…
Residents of Mafefe village in Limpopo are being screened for asbestos-related illnesses as government moves to address contamination from abandoned mines that closed more than 30 years ago. The intervention follows the death of 48-year-old Mampuru Thobejane, whose father, Chief…
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) is investigating a case after a five-year-old Grade R learner was injured at a Tshwane primary school and later required surgery. Katlego Setshedi was injured while playing on a metal swing at Nchuncheko Primary…
Health and nutrition experts say the health consequences of South Africa’s food insecurity crisis can begin long before someone becomes sick enough to need hospital treatment. The scale of the crisis came under renewed scrutiny when the South African Human…
Traditional healers say patients they refer to public clinics can fall through the cracks because the two health systems don’t communicate effectively. Nozuko Nkunzi, a traditional health practitioner from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, says South Africa’s plans to integrate…
Informal gold miners working around old mine dumps between Nyakallong and Allanridge in the Free State say they risk exposure to mine dust, mercury and other chemicals while trying to earn enough money to support their families. At 48, Thabo*…
Two families in Nyakallong, Free State, are mourning the deaths of two young boys who drowned in a mine dam near Harmony Gold’s Target 2 Rock Dump in Allanridge. Thabo Diloko, 9, and Lethabo Abrahams, 8, died after four boys…
When Lizeka Ngcozana’s cousin had a stroke on a Tuesday morning, she took her to Ngonyama Clinic outside Cacadu in the Eastern Cape. But there was no ambulance available to take her to hospital. Ngcozana says nurses told the family…
When the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (Wits RHI) transgender clinic where Kamogelo Moamogoe received her hormone treatment closed last year following cuts to US funding, she says she was given a prescription to buy her hormones herself, but…
Sewage is still spilling into the yards of residents in Nyakallong in the Free State despite a High Court ruling against the municipality, intervention by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the municipality being placed under administration. Residents…
