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…
Nine years ago, Health-e News met Matthew Legemaate while he was waiting for a heart and double-lung transplant. Legemaate, who lives with his parents in Gillitts in KwaZulu-Natal, was born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and…
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…
Children in Saulsville, west of Pretoria continue to use public parks where residents say sewage, illegal dumping and deteriorating infrastructure have made the spaces unsafe. When Health-e News visited Forest Park on Chauke Street, sewage was flowing through the park,…
At 21, Brandon Booysen from Randfontein in Gauteng is bedridden with end-stage kidney disease and severe bone complications after living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) since childhood. He cannot sit upright for more than a few minutes because of severe…
If there is a statement that still haunts Llona Makhubedu, it is: “Switch off the machine.” Eighteen years ago, her first-born son, Paballo Makhubedu could not breathe on his own after his birth and was placed on life support. Llona…
For the past five years, more than 800 learners and staff at Seetsa sa Kgwedi Primary School in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, have been living with recurring sewage spills on the school grounds. School governing body (SGB) chairperson, Kehwile Ramaru…
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…
For unemployed father of three, Ramsenyane Lefenya, volunteering at a community garden in Lenasia South close to Johannesburg, means there are fresh vegetables to take home to his family every day. The 34-year-old father of three children aged 7, 9…
Free State. Every time Phumza Manana suffers an asthma attack, her partner, Mhlangabezi Mgibiza has to carry her through the narrow footpaths of Sanco-ville informal settlement to the nearest place an ambulance can reach. The couple, who have lived in…
For some children at a Nyakallong school in the Free State, the school term means at least one guaranteed meal a day. When caregivers at the We Care Daycare Centre, based at S.A Mokhothu Primary School, realised that children’s need…
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…
Every month Mapiti Seleka puts aside her R370 unemployment grant, knowing that when food prices rise again, she will not have to face them alone. Together with 44 other households in Tsetse Village outside Mafikeng, she belongs to the Reabetswe…
As the Gauteng Education Department faces a R27 billion backlog in school occupational health and infrastructure, parents at a Soshanguve primary school in Tshwane threaten to keep their children home, saying conditions of temporary mobile toilets at the school pose…
Be in the know with our free weekly newsletter. We deliver a round-up of our top stories and insightful reads from across the web.