Around 3.8 million people in South Africa developed depression in 2024, researchers estimate in a major modelling study. (Photo: Shutterstock) Comment & Analysis 30th April 2026 | Gauta Mashego Substance abuse is both a symptom and a consequence of untreated mental illness, and government needs to urgently step in to confront this dangerous overlap, argues Gauta Mashego of SECTION27. Mental health globally has been in crisis for years. The strain on mental health was especially visible when the world stood still during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25% in the first year of the…
Author: Njih Favour
Read More
South African health authorities are tracing 97 contacts of two patients confirmed to be infected with Hantavirus, for possible exposure to the virus. So far, 91 of the 97 contacts have been traced. They include cruise ship and flight passengers, ambulance personnel, flight crew, medical crew, airport and port health officials, healthcare workers, facility security and cleaning staff. One of the two patients, a Dutch woman, died at a hospital in Kempton Park. The second patient, a British man, is still receiving treatment at a Johannesburg hospital. According to the national health department spokesperson, Foster Mohale, the man is “clinically…
Tarique Kenny with the team at the Kidney Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic (KAYAC) at Groote Schuur Hospital. (Photo: Nasief Manie/Spotlight) News & Features 5th May 2026 | Elna Schütz Young people with kidney disease in South Africa often fall into the gap between the paediatric and adult healthcare systems. One innovative clinic in Cape Town is offering a solution tailor-made for this group. The halls of Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) in Cape Town are sometimes rather sombre, but on a Thursday afternoon the Nephrology Unit feels more like the chatty passageway of a high school. This is when the Kidney Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic (KAYAC) is in…
This story was reported by a community journalist trained through our Social Determinants of Health Reporting Project, funded by Tekano. In Hoedspruit, along the R527, abandoned vendor stalls have turned into makeshift housing for 120 displaced people. They lost their homes in November 2025, when an unattended candle sparked a fire that tore through the small informal settlement of Plastic View. Maruleng Local Municipality housed them in a municipal hall for three months. In January 2026, they were told to leave. Six months after the fire, the conditions they are now living in are arguably worse than before, and the…
Professor Willem Hanekom inside his office at the Africa Health Research Institute. (Photo: Biénne Huisman/Spoltight) News & Features 7th May 2026 | Biénne Huisman At his Durban office, Professor Willem Hanekom tells Biénne Huisman about taking a ventilated young patient to the Sea Point promenade, living with HIV, the need for an African research agenda, and the recurring joy that has defined his career. Attached to a beaded lanyard, Professor Willem Hanekom’s employee badge simply states “staff”. He is wearing a white cotton shirt and jeans. His sparsely decorated office bears one painting of coiled ammonite fossil shells, and moleskin…
04 Mar SAHPRA Trains Mpumalanga healthcare workers to improve medicine and vaccine safety reporting through electronic reporting tools Posted at 15:02h in News & Updates by Ntokozo Msiza The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) recently hosted a two-day workshop in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, from 24 to 25 February 2026. This event brought together healthcare workers from across the province, providing them with practical, hands-on training in medicine and vaccine safety reporting. The initiative aimed to strengthen the capacity of healthcare workers with regard to electronic reporting of adverse events, including adverse events following immunisation, using the VigiMobile and VigiFlow…
When Boitshwarelo Moholo from Atamelang, Dellerayville in the North West, first learned that her son Kamogelo, who was three years old at the time, had autism, her world shifted instantly. Moholo says her son Kamogelo had always been hyperactive. By the time he was two years old, he was singing and could say a few words. But when he turned three, the talking stopped. “He kept on singing, he could not do one thing at a time, he would colour in a book, then leave it and take a car, then take a phone, while there he would move on…
The Africa Health Research Institute uses mobile clinics to bring health services to remote areas in northern KwaZulu-Natal. (Photo: Halden Krog/Spotlight) News & Features 11th May 2026 | Biénne Huisman Along dusty roads in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Spotlight speaks to youth leaders, community mentors and leading scientists who are collaborating to bring a groundbreaking HIV prevention jab to this area where HIV infection rates remain stubbornly high. Next to Mtuba Primary School, vendors have laid out their wares on sheets across the parched dirt – apples, lollies, and sweets. A chicken is pecking at foil packets of chips. It’s a few…
20 Mar SAHPRA to brief media on the recall of specified batches of Citro-Soda Regular amid safety concerns Pretoria, 20 March 2026 – The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) will brief the media on the recall of specific batches of Citro-Soda Regular following a potential contamination risk identified at the Adcock Ingram Clayville manufacturing facility in Johannesburg. The recall is limited to the affected batches of Citro Soda Regular produced at the Adcock Ingram Clayville facility, as outlined in the recall notice (Please refer to the listing below). This information is also available on the SAHPRA website, and…
Hantavirus is not Covid-19. It is not easily spread; in fact, it’s unusual for the disease to spread from person to person. This is according to Professor Lucille Blumberg, an infectious disease expert and former Deputy Director at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). “This is not Covid. This [hanta] is a well-described organism. It’s been around for a long time. So there’s a fair amount of information on it,” says Blumberg. Blumberg’s comments come amidst public concern following news that two cases of hantavirus were detected in South Africa. Both cases are tourists who were on a cruise…
