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Health-e News is a non-profit, online publication focused on pressing health issues in South Africa.
We centre community voices through our network of nationwide community journalists.
24/06/2026
It took Health-e News community journalist Lucas Phelwane four separate visits before he finally received his lenacapavir (LEN) injection.
Gauteng launched the HIV prevention jab earlier this month.
But at Reefentse Community Health Centre in Stinkwater, north of Pretoria, things didn't go as planned.
On one visit, the nurse meant to administer the injection had not received training. On another, he arrived after noon and was told the LEN nurse had moved on to other duties. A third visit ended when staff knocked off before he could get the jab.
And he wasn't alone.
At some clinics in Soshanguve, patients were also being turned away.
Staff told Health-e News that HIV test kits needed to start people on PrEP had not yet been verified, while some nurses responsible for administering LEN had not received training.
👇 Full story in the comments.
✍️ Lucas B Phelwane Keletso Mkhwanazi
[WATCH] For 17-year-old Olwethu Hlatshwayo, family planning appointments became something she feared.
Before each visit to Embalenhle Clinic in Orange Farm, she says she struggled to sleep. Long queues, missed school hours and comments from nurses left her feeling judged and discouraged.
Eventually, the teenager stopped using contraceptives altogether.
Olwethu's experience comes despite Gauteng's Adolescent and Youth-Friendly Services programme, which aims to make healthcare more accessible to young people.
16-year-old Nohlanhla Mbatha from Meriting says she also avoids clinics.
After seeing nurses scold her mother during a family planning appointment, she says she is afraid of being judged too.
“If the nurse could be so harsh and rude to my mum as an adult, what about me as a teenager?”
👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Lerato Kodisang
22/06/2026
[OPINION] There are millions of wheelchairs in South Africa. But for years, there has been no dedicated system to service and repair them at scale.
That gap inspired township innovator Zacharia Mashishi to act.
Through his start-up, Chief Ralekhudu Enterprises, Mashishi repairs and services wheelchairs and other medical devices. He also trains people with disabilities to do the work and start businesses in their own communities.
His story is one example of how social innovation can solve practical healthcare challenges while creating economic opportunities.
But Katusha de Villiers and Gillian Vedan from the University of Cape Town Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, argue that many promising health innovations never make it beyond the pilot stage.
Limited funding, bureaucracy, fragmented systems and barriers faced by black entrepreneurs continue to stand in the way.
👇 Full story in the comments
19/06/2026
[OPINION] A child can eat every day and still go hungry.
That's the reality many South African families face.
According to UNICEF, around 23% of South African children live in severe food poverty, consuming food from only one or two food groups a day. At the same time, childhood obesity, stunting and diet-related illnesses continue to rise.
For many struggling households, unhealthy ultra-processed foods are often the cheapest and most accessible option.
A packet of crisps can cost as little as R3–R5, while a piece of fruit may cost the same or more.
Nomfundo Mbuli from the Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA) argues that the issue is bigger than individual choices.
She says families are trying to survive in a food system where healthier options remain unaffordable or inaccessible for many communities.
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[WATCH] For years, getting healthcare meant losing a day's income for taxi marshal Lebohang Letswalo.
Long queues, hours spent waiting, and time away from work made clinic visits difficult.
But things changed when Mpathy Clinic opened at the Orange Farm taxi rank in Johannesburg.
The clinic was established after concerns about HIV and TB among taxi drivers.
Now, drivers and marshals can access healthcare while at work.
"I can easily go and consult while on duty, get assistance quickly and go back to work," says Letswalo.
Although it was initially aimed at reaching men, the clinic is now open to anyone who needs healthcare.
👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Lerato Kodisang
[WATCH] "I’m thinking of pulling her out even though I’m not convinced that she’s fully rehabilitated."
For the past year, Merriam Piliso has spent nearly R20 000 trying to help her 24-year-old daughter recover from drug addiction.
The food vendor says the money she earns selling food, together with child support grants for her grandchildren, barely covers the family’s basic needs.
Yet every month, she continues paying for rehab because she wants her daughter to get better.
But keeping Norah in treatment comes at a cost many families simply can't afford.
Limpopo has only one state rehabilitation centre, and officials warn that illegal rehab centres are increasing across the province.
👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Moyahabo Mabeba
[WATCH] “I didn’t think the government would deliver on time without interruptions.”
But in some Gauteng clinics, patients were already receiving Lenacapvir, the new HIV prevention injection, this week.
Our community journalists visited clinics in Orange Farm and Soshanguve and found very different levels of readiness.
Some facilities had already administered dozens of doses, while others were dealing with low stock concerns, staff shortages, long waits and training delays.
Despite the challenges, many patients were eager to get the jab and welcomed a new HIV prevention option that only needs to be taken twice a year.
👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Lerato Kodisang, Keletso Mkhwanazi and Lucas Phelwane .
11/06/2026
“I’m terrified of needles.”
That’s what Health-e News reporter Keletso Mkhwanazi told a nurse before getting the new HIV prevention injection, Lenacapavir (LEN), at Maria Rantho Community Health Centre in Soshanguve.
Getting the jab was never part of the plan. She was visiting clinics in Soshanguve to report on the national rollout of (LEN).
"The clinic’s cleanliness, the health workers’ positive attitudes and the short queue made me decide to get in line."
South Africa this week started rolling out LEN, an prevention injection that has been shown to be more than 96% effective, with just two jabs a year.
Although Keletso was scared, nurses reassured her throughout the process.
👇 Full story in the comments.
[WATCH] For more than a year, residents of Vaalwater 2 in Senwamokgope outside Modjadjiskloof say they have been living with raw sewage flowing through their streets.
The sewage has polluted the Senwamokgope River, a water source many families once relied on for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing clothes.
Now, residents say they are spending money they can't afford on water from households with boreholes.
Some say they are using their children's social grants to buy water, leaving less money for food.
Parents are also worried about children who walk through the sewage every day on their way home.
👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Judas Mohale-Sekwela
09/06/2026
Stinking pools and sewage in our streets.
Residents in Freedom Square Township, in Mangaung, say this is what daily life has become as sewer spillages continue to affect their community.
They say sewage is pooling in streets, yards and around homes, making it difficult to move through the area.
Some residents say they have reported the problem, but nothing gets done.
👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Molefi Sompane
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