Every weekend up to a 100 children, teenagers and women gather at Refentse Primary School in Stinkwater, north of Pretoria, for free aerobics classes. The weekly events were started by local resident, Khaohelo Tshabalala, known as ‘Miss Tee’ in her…
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…
For five weeks this winter, Health-e News freelance contributor Tembile Sgqolana regularly visited an initiation school in Komani, Eastern Cape, where his son was undergoing initiation. He saw first-hand how much responsibility falls on the amakhankatha, or traditional nurses, who…
In the first part of our Hungry For Change series, Health-e News shares the story of a Johannesburg mother who turned to sex work to feed her three young children. Her youngest was hospitalised with malnutrition earlier this year. A…
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…
One year after Health-e News reported on Stinkwater’s sanitation crisis, residents say conditions have worsened. For thousands of residents in Stinkwater, near Hammanskraal north of Pretoria, pit toilets remain the only form of sanitation nearly 60 years after the settlement…
A recent Health-e News publication of a 20-year old Limpopo mother who alleges that doctors removed her womb without her knowledge or consent after childbirth, has raised questions about when an emergency hysterectomy may be necessary and what patients’ rights…
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…
A young Limpopo mother says caring full-time for her nine-year old daughter with cerebral palsy has left her depressed, isolated and unable to build a future of her own. Mapula Setati (25) from Extension 44 outside Polokwane was only 16…
A young Limpopo mother says doctors removed her womb during childbirth surgery without her knowledge or consent, leaving her in pain and struggling to come to terms with what happened. Dimakatso Madimabe* (20) says she was eight months pregnant when…
Healthcare workers, humanitarian organisations and migrants are warning that South Africa’s anti-migrant campaign is beginning to disrupt access to healthcare, raising concerns about interrupted chronic health treatment and broader public health. The warnings follow the 30 June deadline set by…
Zimbabwean immigrants living in Louis Trichardt say they are being turned away from clinics or told their latest chronic medication collection will be their last, raising fears that anti-immigrant pressure is starting to affect access to healthcare. The concern follows…
A Roodepoort mother is speaking out about life with a stoma after childbirth, saying the condition has changed how she mothers, works and manages her life. Phemelo Seane, 28, says she has been living with a stoma since 2024 after…
Nompilo Maleka is no ordinary granny. The 115-year-old great-grandmother from Driekop outside Burgersfort in Limpopo still wakes up early in the morning, makes her bed, washes dishes and cooks. A copy of her green ID book, seen by Health-e news,…
Community health organisations and activists say female condoms are scarce, while finger and tongue condoms are largely unavailable in clinics, community health service centres and local shops. This leaves some women and members of the LGBTQ+ community with limited options…
