Health-e

For nearly a decade, Thapelo Phiri struggled with a nyaope addiction. The 34-year-old from Dibate village in Mahikeng in the North West says addiction nearly robbed him of everything, controlling his life. “I was living a dark life of drugs,” he says. “I almost lost my family and friends, and the most painful part was my relationship with my daughter. I felt like a corpse.

By Dr Patrick Ngassa Piotie, Chairperson of the Diabetes Alliance A child quietly skips an insulin dose at school, not because they forgot, but because they don’t want to be seen. A mine worker hides his condition, fearing he will be declared unfit for the shaft. Even at home, a family gathering becomes a moment of anxiety where every food choice is watched, judged, and whispered about. This is the face of diabetes stigma.

A Limpopo mother is calling for answers about her daughter’s condition, and for better healthcare and social support for families caring for children with severe disabilities in rural areas. Andronicca Rasebotsa, 38, from Mphame Village lives in the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality with her three children – including her 13-year-old and one-year-old sons – and her five-year-old daughter who has cerebral palsy.

A Limpopo mother who recently lost her 13-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy says families raising children with severe disabilities need more support, not silence or stigma. Grannie Maake, 29, from Ga-Sekgopo village outside Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo is mourning the death of her daughter, Lehlogonolo Princess. She died on 15 February, just two weeks after being admitted to a boarding school for children with special needs. Her mother had hoped would offer better care and opportunities.

Pholosong Regional Hospital in Tsakane is often in the news for all the wrong reasons. Patients often complain about poor service delivery, long queues, and delays in receiving their files, among other things. But there’s another side to the story. As you walk through the hallway into the administration area, patients and the facility workers are met with singing of gospel songs. One voice stands out,  peppering motivational talk and jokes in between the uplifting songs. This is the norm around here.

For some families in Orange Farm, a food garden means more than fresh vegetables. It means one less meal they have to buy in a country where 14 million people face hunger. Nonhlanhla Mazibuko, 30, says support from a local farming project, Intouch Youth Development & Community Justice, helped her household at a time when her family struggled to get by. “I stay with my grandparents and I am unemployed. We survive on their monthly social grants, which are not enough,“ she says.

Some provinces have started implementing the January 2025 Labour Court ruling that community health workers (CHW) must be made permanent government employees. Until then, CHWs worked on contracts, earned stipends as low as R3000, and had no benefits, pension or job security. In the Northern Cape, the process, marred by tension, has left many CHWs frustrated and uncertain. Some workers who have worked for more than 20 years say they have been excluded from permanent absorption.

In Lukau Village, 17 elderly women, including 90-year-old Tshinakawu Ndou, have joined forces to fix roads so ambulances can reach the area during heavy rain. Residents say the work became even more urgent in January, when flooding left roads muddy and inaccessible. Ward 28 committee member Humbulani Nemutavhani says the danger became clear during the floods, when her younger sister fell ill. The family knew an ambulance would not reach their home.

Workers at Mandeni Shopping Centre, north of KwaZulu-Natal, are calling for urgent intervention to Sinikithemba Clinic, saying the facility is too small, poorly equipped and struggling to cope with demand. The small clinic, which operates inside the shopping centre, was established more than a decade ago as an extension of Sundumbili Clinic. It was meant to make healthcare easier to access for retail workers, taxi operators, and informal traders, who often cannot leave work during the day.

Health workers in Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, say poor diets, little exercise and unsafe play spaces are putting adolescents at risk in a country already burdened by high obesity rates. Community health worker Mapule Mbhele from Barney Molokoane Clinic in Orange Farm says unhealthy eating habits often start early. According to Mbhele, many children are eating sweets, snacks, sugary drinks and other processed food from a young age.