OurHealth is a project that trains and supports local activists and aspiring health journalists. Our citizen journalists (CJs) live in rural and poorly-covered areas in South Africa, and report on health issues affecting their communities.
Bongani Regional Hospital in Welkom had to transfer critically ill patients to nearby facilities after cable theft left it without electricity for several hours last week. The provincial health department says the generator wires were also cut, so…
Nurses continued their strike action at Boitumelo Regional Hospital on Monday over safety issues, overtime and staff shortages. The nurses downed tools on Friday, leaving patients unattended and unable to get their medication. Patients who queued early in the morning…
In December, Health-e News reported on the unacceptable service patients received at Pelonomi Regional Hospital in Bloemfontein. Free State Health MEC Montsheng Tsiu has since told Health-e News that the department and hospital management will meet in search of urgent solutions. …
Nonhlanhla Mazaleni uses her personal experience living with HIV to help young people who test positive to stay on treatment and live positively. The 47-year-old, who hails from Diepkloof in Soweto is a professional counsellor and the founder of…
Two Ekurhuleni clinics are battling to keep their doors open as water shortages continue to plague Gauteng. Both Tsakane Ext 10 Clinic and Sonto Thobela Clinic in Duduza, a township east of Nigel, have been battling since December…
The Free State has been dealt another huge blow after it emerged that 13 pregnant women were forced to sleep on floors in the antenatal ward at the Pelonomi Regional Hospital in Bloemfontein. When Thembi Mgababa went to give…
Patients seeking medical care at the Boitumelo Hospital in Maokeng, just outside Kroonstad in the Free State, have been turned away due to issues with contractors. Surgeries and other vital services have been called off until further notice. The…
Free State Health MEC, Montsheng Tsiu, has admitted the province’s ambulance-patient ratio is so poor people sometimes wait days for help. “According to the ratio in the national health guidelines, at least a single ambulance should serve 10 000 people,…
Cyberbullying victims have described incidences of bullying online as if they’re being attacked everywhere – from inside their homes to being at school or even just venturing out of the house. It feels as if there is no escape…
Pregnant with her second child, 25-year-old Kea Selai hopes to raise her kids in an environment with access to health care services. Her wish, however, seems unobtainable as she and others living in Zone 1 in Thaba Nchu have…
The Mofumahadi Manapo Mopeli Regional Hospital in QwaQwa has got its naysayers out in full force following reports of old equipment and the low morale of health workers. As the walls fall in, poverty-stricken residents are too afraid to seek…
A clinic in Mathibestad in the North West is on the verge of collapse while it battles to keep its lights on during load shedding, leaving patients in need of emergency care stranded. The 24-hour clinic services more than…
People living with HIV in the Free State have raised their grievances via the Free State Department of Health’s multi-sectoral forum held last week. Several patients have exposed shocking truths regarding their treatment at clinics across the province. Tshepo Rabotapi,…
Patients at Free State clinics have expressed frustration and anger at having to wake up at 4am only to be turned away due to medication shortages. Some residents claim that officials are taking medication for external use, with most…
As residents in the Seshego township in Limpopo continue to experience water cuts, the threat of contracting waterborne diseases has caused an increased sense of fear. Taps in the township, which falls under the Polokwane municipality, have been dry…
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