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 programme educating young girls about sexual and reproductive health in Ratanda, Heidelberg has mentored more than 120 girls since its inception in Gauteng six years ago. Organisers say there have been no pregnancies among participants since the launch of…
For 15 years, Maria Sikhosana from Orange Farm has relied on family members to take phone calls, listen to messages and help her communicate when she needs healthcare. The 43-year-old single mother of 12-year-old twins says she lost her hearing…
Joel Raphiri lives by the Northern Sotho adage ‘letsema le ema ka mong’, meaning a group effort only succeeds if the person who initiated it takes the lead and puts in the work first. For more than a decade, the…
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…
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…
