Robbed of their hospital in an National Health Insurance pilot district
By Ufrieda Ho – The “bus stop” and the “slaughterhouse” – these are the nicknames locals give for the Nketoane Hospital in Reitz and the Dihlabeng Regional Hospital Bethlehem.
Buthelezi EMS remains a problem and a mystery
By Ufrieda Ho – The Free State’s health care system – in tatters in so many places – also has one recurring nightmare: Buthelezi Emergency Medical Services, to whom public emergency services have been outsourced.
Welcome to the twilight zone: fear and abandonment in the Free State’s health system
By Mary-Jane Matsolo – Activist Mary-Jane Matsolo last year heard “saddening and horrific” stories from the more than 50 people who testified during the People’s Commission of Inquiry into the Free State Healthcare System. She recently entered the field to assess whether anything had changed. These are her notes.
When a good idea becomes good news: adherence clubs in the Free State
By Ufrieda Ho A simple well-managed idea is not only easing pressure on the Free State health care system and making HIV-positive patients’ lives easier – it also seems to…
A time of dying in Durban
By Kerry Cullinan – Every day, I passed three funeral parlours on my 5km drive to work in central Durban. Shiny hearses lined up in the street, one behind the other. Fetching, taking, waiting.
A full version of the special edition of Spotlight will be released during the International AIDS Conference in Durban which starts on 17 July. This is an article which will be published in Spotlight.
VIDEO: #FireBenny
The Treatment Action Campaign and partners recently held a meeting to establish the Free State People’s Health Coalition. More than 500 TAC members also took to the streets and delivered memorandums to the police and National Prosecuting Authority demanding an update on the charges against Health MEC Dr Benny Malakoane. This is a short clip of the action in Bloemfontein.
VIDEO: The Price of Gold
Judgment in the historic Silicosis Class Action, Bongani Nkala and 55 Others v Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd and 31 Others, will be handed down in the South Gauteng High Court tomorrow (Friday 13 May 2016) at 9am.
If the class is certified it will be the largest class to ever be certified in South Africa and it allow hundreds of thousands of gold miners and their families to access justice and redress. This short clip tells the story of some of the gold miners, the advocacy that has happened and the role of the amici.
VIDEO: Free State in chains
The TAC has been leading a campaign to fix the Free State health system. There have been a number of interventions including hearings into people’s experiences of the health system. The demand is clear: Fire the MEC Dr Benny Malakoane, drop the charges against the innocent Community Health Workers and fix the health system.