LIMPOPO – On Monday the family of Michael Komape – the five-year-old boy who drowned in faeces after falling into a pit toilet four years ago – will find out whether their request for damages has been granted, giving them final closure.
The cash-strapped North West Health Department has said that the lives of chronically ill patients in the province are now threatened due to ongoing workers strikes as medical supplies have been heavily affected.
MPUMALANGA – After two days of being left to cope without meals, clean gowns and bedding, patients at Themba Hospital in Kabokweni, Mpumalanga are once again receiving proper care.
Disgruntled workers are the hospital embarked on strike action on Monday citing bad working conditions as the cause.
Unless the quality of food that Africans eat is addressed, the continent will not be able to address under-nutrition and obesity-related diseases or meet global nutrition goals.
The increasing number of medical malpractice litigation claims in South Africa have been described as an ‘explosion’ by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, who warns that the compassion-based practice of medicine is being replaced by defensive medicine and mistrust.
LIMPOPO - While most of the schools damaged during demarcation protests in Vuwani have been renovated, Frank Mukhaswakule Primary School in Mashau village has been left with unfinished classrooms, dilapidated old pit toilets and dangerous holes on the school grounds.
In the past few weeks Gauteng schools have been rocked by robberies with thieves targeting computers and food meant for the school nutrition programme.Â
EASTERN CAPE - For the people of Flagstaff access to basic sanitation services remains a massive and ongoing challenge, and even the municipal efforts underway to address the problem are failing.
This week the Sowetan reported that food products were being stored under the same roof as a mortuary in Pretoria East sparking concerns about food contamination.
READ all about how we reported on obesity prevention, started a campaign against rape, and broke the Esidimeni story on television in our latest Annual Report
Almost three-quarters of Diepsloot residents live below the poverty line, while over half of adults are unemployed, according to Kliptown and Diepsloot study done by Planact.
While it takes 30 working days for a foster care grant to be processed, checked and either approved or refused, the system has failed four orphan children from rural Tzaneen for well over a year.
On a Monday at 7.30am the waiting area at the Potchefstroom Hospital in the North West province is packed full of patients. Every seat is taken, people stand at the door and general chit chat revolves around how many hours people expect to spend in the queue.
Now that government’s strategy to reduce the sugar intake through the introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages – known as a Health Promotion Levy – consumers in general remain cynical, believing it may not have the desired impact.
Over the Easter weekend, South Africa became the first African country to impose an excise tax on sugary drinks, a move that has been welcomed by health experts but condemned as ‘nanny-ish’ by free marketeers.
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