A Musina mother says she was trapped in a violent family home with her four children after being unable to find a shelter to move her children to, and could not afford to leave while unemployed. Makwanela* says she eventually…
A Limpopo mother says her seven-year-old daughter, who has a developmental disability, was raped by a person known to the community, yet the family is still waiting for an arrest. The incident happened on 21 August at Makaepea village in…
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…
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…
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…
Parents in Musina, Limpopo, say drug addiction is taking a toll on families, leaving some afraid in their own homes and struggling to get help for their children. Their concerns come after the Hawks uncovered a suspected crystal methamphetamine manufacturing…
Residents of Matswale township in Musina say persistent sewage spills and the stench from overflowing wastewater continue to disrupt their lives, more than a year after the Public Protector found that authorities had failed to properly maintain the town’s sewage…
For 34-year-old paraplegic athlete Moloko Pula, getting to hospital for medical care means travelling from her rural village to Polokwane and relying on public transport that does not always accommodate her wheelchair. Pula, who lives in Ga-Semenya village in the…
Limpopo. Once a month, Neria Amon’s Grade 9 daughter misses school to accompany her mother and four-month-old twin siblings to Musina Hospital for their routine check-ups. Amon, a single mother who survives on social grants, cannot carry both babies on…
55-year-old Dinah Mlambo, who lives with large open growths on her knee, is supposed to travel 26.5 km from her home in Zebediela, Limpopo to a clinic two to three times a week for wound care. But since losing her…
18-year-old Maphuti Hlako who qualified to represent South Africa’s under 18 team at an international softball tournament in Botswana, says behind the excitement lies anxiety about injuries, limited access to ongoing medical and mental health support and funding. Hlako is…
Geraldine Norton’s grandchildren do not always bathe before going to school. Instead, they wipe themselves with a cloth and wait for water to return. “The children cannot always bathe before going to school,” says the Limpopo grandmother, who has been…
In the second part of our Hungry For Change series, Health-e News shares the story of a Limpopo widower who has to feed himself, his three adult children and his two young grandchildren with R50 a day. When food runs out, he advices…
A Limpopo mother from Maleboho says she regrets taking her eight-year-old son for circumcision at a make-shift surgery that left him with septic wounds and hospitalised for a week. Doris Mosena, from Slaaphoek village in the Maleboho area, says she…
For residents of Mafarafara village outside Burgersfort, reaching the nearest clinic means crossing the Tubatse River on a makeshift bridge and then walking another 1.5km up a steep, bushy gravel road. The village has no clinic of its own. Residents…
