Author: Njih Favour
It’s been 28 years, but Thabisile Gumede remembers the day she first experienced a schizophrenic episode. She was just 17 years old and visiting her grandmother’s farm in KwaMhlabauyalingana in the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal. “I heard a voice saying: ‘I’m so pathetic. Do you really think anyone cares if you’re sad?” Gumede recalls. “I didn’t know where it came from. I looked around, and I couldn’t see anyone, but this voice kept talking to me. I got scared. I just ran home because I was out in the field. I thought I could just hide in my room, and…
Dr Deidre McPherson is one of ten women trauma surgeons in South Africa’s public healthcare sector. (Photo: Discovery Foundation) News & Features 3rd October 2025 | Biénne Huisman Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town has one of the busiest emergency centres in the Western Cape. As it turns to the public to raise R20 million for the opening of a new emergency centre, Dr Deidre McPherson chats to Spotlight about the hospital’s trauma frontline. Deep into the night while most of Cape Town is asleep, trauma surgeon Dr Deidre McPherson slips into work scrubs, hitting the highway to Groote Schuur…
This project is funded by: The gold mine dumps towering over parts of Soweto are a familiar landscape. But for those living in their shadow, these landmarks pose a serious health threat. “Growing up in Diepkloof next to a mine dump was normal, as the mine dump was seen as a natural mountain,” says Michael Lelaka. “However, growing older, we saw that the mountain was yellow in colour. And during the dry season, it is unbearable living in Diepkloof. The gold dust will cover the yard with a fine yellow dust. You’ll find this dust inside the house, on the…
By Tian Johnson, the African Alliance Shifawu Abdulkarim has spent 14 years as a community mobiliser and distributor in Kaduna State, Nigeria. She says motherhood motivates her to do everything she can to protect children from malaria. Her work has likely helped to bridge the gap between global policy and local survival. In one campaign, supported by the Global Fund, Shifawu joined nearly 12 000 mobilisers who distributed millions of insecticide-treated nets and delivered malaria chemoprevention to more than two million children under five. She has been part of a health revolution that has saved up to 70 million lives…
Most medical devices are used in healthcare settings but some like bandages, thermometers, condoms, and blood pressure monitors are used at home. (Photo: Shutterstock) News & Features 1st October 2025 | Catherine Tomlinson Unlike with medicines, and with a few exceptions, South Africa’s regulator does not assess whether diagnostic tests and other medical devices on the market are safe and work as they are supposed to. The regulator has however started down a road that should eventually lead to the regulation of all medical devices in the country. From scalpels to surgical robots, finger-prick diagnostic tests to MRIs, thermometers to…
An interim report by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) into corruption at Tembisa Tertiary Hospital has revealed that officials at the Gauteng Department of Health and hospital staff abdicated their duties, allowing fraudulent activities to go unabated. Speaking at the release of the report at the hospital on Monday, Advocate Andy Mothibi from the SIU said the extent of the fraud and corruption unearthed was only possible because officials disregarded their duties. The investigation, initially meant to probe expenditure at the hospital from January 2020 to September 2023, expanded its scope to investigate transactions from 2018 to 2024. Over R2…
By Dr Chioma Ohanjunwa and Dr Mapheyeledi Sibindlana, Africa Centre for Inclusive Health Management Medical equipment, health professionals and medicines are vital to South Africa’s healthcare system. But most treatment plans overlook a crucial element of health: spirituality. Health professionals and many academics across various disciplines shy away from the topic. This only fuels the misperception that spirituality is defined by strict religious frameworks, and demands only personal, individual, and inner work. Spirituality broadly pertains to values and beliefs regarding our connection to, and relationship with, the self and all others, including families, communities, institutions, land, nature, animals and…
Lenacapavir will offer people at risk of HIV more choices for PrEP. (Photo: supplied) Lenacapavir will offer people at risk of HIV more choices for PrEP. (Photo: supplied) What’s new From 2027, Indian generics companies Hetero Labs and Dr. Reddy’s will supply lenacapavir, a twice-yearly injectable PrEP with ~96–100% efficacy, for US$40 (R698) per person per year across 120 low- and middle-income countries. South Africa, home to the world’s largest HIV epidemic, is included in the agreement, making the country one of the first able to procure affordable long-acting PrEP. Why it matters Daily oral PrEP uptake in South Africa has lagged. Adherence challenges,…
What’s new The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has released an interim report revealing that over R2 billion intended for healthcare services at Tembisa Hospital was misappropriated. The investigation, begun in September 2022, identified 207 service providers involved in 4,501 purchase orders, many tied to fraudulent procurement practices. How it happened Hospital officials colluded with service providers to inflate invoices and approve payments for goods and services that were never delivered. Three major syndicates, including the Maumela Syndicate, coordinated payments and funnelled funds into personal accounts and luxury assets. Lapses in internal controls and inadequate verification processes allowed fraudulent orders and duplicate payments…
The country that performed the first successful heart transplant has very low organ donation rates. Now a student-run medical non-profit is hoping to make a difference. (Photo: Nasief Manie/Spotlight) News & Features 29th September 2025 | Elri Voigt Thousands of people in South Africa are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, but our very low organ donation rates mean that many won’t get a transplant in time. Spotlight asks the experts why our donation rates are so low and what can be done about it. Back in 2002, Rentia le Roux received a horrifying diagnosis that her kidneys were failing.…