This story was reported by a community journalist trained through our Social Determinants of Health Reporting Project, funded by Tekano. “I used to see homeless people every day in South Beach, and it broke my heart,” says Yolanda Zikhali (47). “Some were hungry, weak and sick, while others had no one to care for them. I then thought I must do something to help.” This led the Durban native to start a non-profit organisation, Siphilisiwe Community Care, in 2020, to provide food support to vulnerable people living on the streets. “I could no longer ignore the growing number of homeless…
Author: Njih Favour
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Buea, Cameroon – Fresh armed confrontations across the Southern Cameroons last weekend are once again challenging official Cameroon claims that the war in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia is fading into history. Reports and videos circulating online following attacks on Sunday, May 17, suggest restoration fighters remain very active across several counties despite years of Cameroon military offensives and repeated claims from Yaoundé that stability is returning to the conflict-hit regions. Weekend’s attack in Muyuka, where Ambazonia restoration fighters, identifying themselves as the “Fako-Meme Unity Warriors” released video footage claiming responsibility for the attack on Cameroonian soldiers. In the footage, the fighters displayed…
A mobile clinic provides essential healthcare services to the people of Nkqubela every Thursday evening during the summer months. (Photo: Sue Segar/Spotlight) News & Features 19th May 2026 | Sue Segar Seasonal workers in Robertson often struggle to get to the clinic to access basic healthcare during the day, so community health workers in Langeberg have set up mobile clinics to visit the township at night. It’s late afternoon on a balmy Autumn Thursday in Nkqubela township, which is nestled in the picturesque farming town of Robertson in the Western Cape. Against a mountainous backdrop, four large mobile clinics are…
A Friday night youth church gathering was supposed to be like any other for me. Instead, on this night in 2024, it ended with me collapsing in a bathroom and waking up in a hospital bed at Netcare Blaauwberg Hospital, confused. What the doctors found was the last thing I expected: hypertension. But I was only 24. I’ve always thought high blood pressure was something that older people get. Doctors initially said it was a drop in my blood pressure (BP) that caused me to pass out. But later checks told a different story. I vividly remember the doctor’s words…
South Africa had an estimated 7.9 million people living with HIV in mid-2025, accounting for 12.3% of the total population. (Photo: Shutterstock) News & Features 15th May 2026 | Marcus Low The number of people in South Africa on antiretroviral treatment remained roughly unchanged from 2024 to 2025, according to just-published estimates from the leading mathematical model of HIV in the country. This suggests that the disruption of US aid for HIV services has slowed the growth of our HIV treatment programme, but the impact so far is not as severe as some researchers feared it might be. South Africa’s…
By Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases The devastating effects of human-induced climate change are now a lived reality rather than a distant possibility. Together with the La Niña weather phenomenon, climate change has intensified extreme weather events across the region. In early 2026, several southern African countries, including Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, experienced significantly higher rainfall than normal. Some areas reported a year’s worth of rainfall in a matter of days. These extreme rainfall events ruined essential infrastructure, displaced local communities, many of whom were already vulnerable, threatened food security, and placed added pressure on…
Health research in South Africa faced an unprecedented crisis due to funding cuts from the United States government. (Photo: Shutterstock) News & Features 15th April 2026 | Catherine Tomlinson Cuts in United States funding for global health research over the past year dealt a heavy blow to South Africa’s health research ecosystem, which has historically been heavily reliant on US financial support. Spotlight looks at what the South African Medical Research Council has done to weather the storm and what they have planned for the next few years. South Africa has long punched above its weight in the global health…
This week, the Gauteng health department issued an alert about increased malaria cases in the province, urging residents to be vigilant. While malaria is endemic in three provinces, Gauteng isn’t one of them. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), which conducts malaria surveillance, acknowledges the increase in cases. According to the NICD, unusually heavy rains and flooding across southern Africa have led to an increase in malaria cases. In some instances, malaria has been found in areas in South Africa where the disease isn’t usually transmitted. In the first three months of 2026, Gauteng recorded 414 confirmed malaria cases…
Bukhosi Mdletshe, operational manager of the Ensingweni Clinic in KwaZulu-Natal, oversees care for a widely dispersed rural community. (Photo: Thom Pierce/Spotlight) News & Features 16th April 2026 | Sue Segar Growing up as the son of a single mother in the rural community of Ensingweni in KwaZulu-Natal, Bukhosi Mdletshe encountered the warm embrace of his community, including some key male role models who helped him navigate life as a young man. Now, having trained as a nurse, he is back home, working as clinic manager at the Ensingweni clinic, and in his words, paying his dues to the community that…
By Dr Stephanie van Wyk, University of Cape Town (UCT) and Dr Donnie Mategela, Malawi, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Malaria outbreaks are rising again in parts of southern Africa.Across the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region, there is a convergence of pressures: climate-driven outbreaks, funding shortfalls, and the early signs of emerging resistance. Together, these threaten the most vulnerable communities across the region. Of SADC’s 420 million people, roughly 365 million are at risk. Most rely on effective treatment as their last line of defence. At the same time, the malaria parasite is evolving to evade detection and, increasingly, to…
