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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.

29/10/2026

Seshego resident exposed to smoke from burning rubbish: “Sometimes the smell is so strong my inhalers and nebulisers cannot remedy the situation.”

Richard Lebea, 41, has had asthma since he was six. His family moved to Polokwane so he could be closer to clinics. Now his home in Seshego sits between an illegal dump where rubbish burns almost every evening and a wastewater plant residents call unbearable.

Flies cover the waste. Rats get into yards. A security guard nearby says even a surgical mask does not block the smell. Nancy Mashao says children complain while they play.

The 2025 Green Drop Report gave Polokwane’s three wastewater plants an average of just 23%. The municipality says it has a collection timetable but admits illegal dumping continues.

Residents say they raised this before, and nothing was done. On 4 November, they get to raise it at the ballot box.

Does your area have the same problem? Tell us in the comments.

Reporter: Moyahabo Mabeba
Read the full story: https://health-e.org.za/2026/10/28/elections-2026-seshego-residents-endure-smoke-from-burning-waste-and-sewage-stench/

-eNews

28/10/2026

Philile Hlophe faces many challenges raising three children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

The 35-year-old mother of five lives in Emolweni, KwaZulu-Natal. Three of her children, Sibonakaliso, 17, Uyanda, 15, and Ndalo, 3, live with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and use wheelchairs.

She used to have a car to take her three children to hospital appointments and physiotherapy. But after it was damaged beyond repair in an accident last year, she has had to hire a vehicle whenever they need medical attention. Each trip costs R400.

They need physiotherapy at least once or twice a month, but transport is not the only challenge facing the family. All three children are currently out of school because Hlophe could not afford scholar transport, uniforms and other school-related costs.

With 17 family members sharing a five-room home, caring for the children and meeting their daily needs is also difficult.

Hlophe says she needs more support with transport, medical care, wheelchair maintenance, schooling and suitable housing.

👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Via Sandile Mbili Mbili

27/10/2026

: “I am not sure how they manage to live in such conditions,” says 54-year-old Brenda after taking Health-e News to homes surrounded by flowing sewage in Skoonplaas, a township in Musina, Limpopo.

For residents, the sewage spills are raising concerns about hygiene and their health. Norah Ndlovu fears for children playing in the streets and suspects her son became ill after playing in sewage on his way home from school.

In July, he experienced stomach pains, vomiting and a high fever and received treatment at Nancefield Clinic.

Unreliable water supplies are adding to the strain. Some households told Health-e News they spend up to R500 a month buying water for drinking, cooking, washing and other needs.

Vhembe District Municipality says R217.4 million has been allocated to water and sanitation projects for the 2026/27 financial year. However, it could not provide a completion date for a lasting solution.

With local government elections approaching, residents want political leaders to prioritise the basic services their communities need.

Follow our Elections 2026 series for more stories from communities across South Africa. What’s happening in your community? Share your story with us.

👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Via Bernard Chiguvare

26/10/2026

Eight years after her daughter was allegedly assaulted at school, a Soshanguve mother is still seeking justice.

Her daughter was six years old in 2018 when, according to her mother, a teacher at Bokamoso Primary School struck her on the head with a hard wooden object.

Now 14, she struggles with reading, writing and drawing. Her mother says doctors advised that she needed specialised education because of developmental difficulties. She also continues to receive medical treatment.

“It is really painful because I gave birth to a normal child,” her mother told Health-e News.

The mother says the cost of her daughter's treatment and counselling, along with years of delays in the criminal case, has placed a financial and emotional burden on the family.

The case against the retired teacher is before the Pretoria North Regional Court and is scheduled to continue on 16 November 2026.

👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Via Keletso Mkhwanazi

26/10/2026

: “We sometimes drink rainwater from the roof. The water isn’t clean because it is mixed with bird f***s and dead lizards.”

For Christine Mashel and her family in Makhuvha village near Giyani, Limpopo, buying clean drinking water is a cost they have had to bear since March 2025, when a communal borehole stopped working.

When they cannot afford to buy water, they sometimes drink rainwater collected from their roof. Mashel says her 14-year-old daughter fell ill after drinking it in August, experiencing abdominal pains, headaches, nausea and diarrhoea.

Other residents say they also struggle to access clean water, with some relying on rivers and other unsafe sources.

With local government elections approaching, villagers say the water crisis will influence their voting decisions. Meanwhile, Mopani District Municipality has confirmed that two of Makhuvha’s five boreholes are not working.

Read more about the residents’ experiences and the ongoing struggle for clean water.

Follow our Elections & Health 2026 series for more stories from communities across South Africa. What’s happening in your community? Share your story with us.

👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Via Moyahabo Mabeba

26/10/2026

PMOS and endometriosis are often confused. Do you know the difference?

PMOS (formerly PCOS) is a hormonal condition. Endometriosis is when tissue like the womb lining grows outside the uterus.

Regomoditse Kgomo, 24, lives with both. “I did not realise I still needed ongoing medical care to manage the underlying conditions themselves,” she says.

Neither has a cure, but both can be managed with the right care.

👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Via Adina Mologadi Aphane

23/10/2026

Jonas Molefe Motau is blind. When no one is around to help him cross Molefe Makinta Highway in Hammanskraal, he listens for cars. But newer cars are quieter. “At times I would just hear the ho**er signalling that I am dicing with death,” he says.

His story points to a bigger problem. A 2024 safety check at two busy Gauteng intersections found about 1,200 people walking through each in one morning hour, many of them school children, with no marked crossings and cars driving at or above the speed limit.

So who should fix it? The highway runs through the City of Tshwane, but it is a provincial road under the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport. The ward councillor says the pedestrian crossing near the disability centre is still unresolved.

Tsakane Chauke, founder of the Empowerment Centre for the Blind in Kanana, says people with disabilities must be part of these decisions: “Nothing about us without us.”

What should candidates promise people with disabilities before 4 November?

Read the full story: https://health-e.org.za/2026/10/22/election-2026-blind-residents-demand-safer-roads-and-pedestrian-crossings-in-hammanskraal/
Reporter: Lucas Phelwane
-e-news

23/10/2026

“I am tired of living in pain.”

At 24, Regomoditse Kgomo has been living with PMOS and endometriosis since her teens. After losing her medical aid in 2023, she has struggled to access specialist care through Gauteng’s public healthcare system.

She says she has asked for a gynaecologist referral three times at different clinics, but is still waiting.

Meanwhile, she continues to experience abdominal pain, headaches, sleep difficulties and other symptoms that affect her confidence, social life and studies.

“I honestly do not know what else I can do,” she says.

Kgomo’s story highlights the challenges of living with chronic conditions when specialist treatment remains out of reach. Read more about her decade-long struggle to get care.

👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Via Adina Mologadi Aphane

22/10/2026

[WATCH] : Blind residents in Hammanskraal are asking a simple question: how are they supposed to get to work safely?

For 47-year-old Jonas Molefe Motau, who is blind, getting to work means walking more than four kilometres through rocky roads, potholes and muddy patches. His biggest challenge is crossing Molefe Makinta Highway, where there is no pedestrian crossing near the disability centre where he works.

“There is no pedestrian crossing, yet there is an institution for the blind people on the other side of the road.”

When no one is available to help him cross, Motau says he has to rely on the sound of approaching vehicles. He has fallen several times along his route, and his walking cane has even broken after getting stuck in holes.

His wife, Neo, worries about his safety, especially when he returns home after dark.

With the 4 November local government elections approaching, blind residents want safer roads and pavements, and for people with disabilities to be included in decisions that affect their lives.

👇 Full story in the comments
✍️ Via Lucas Phelwane.

21/10/2026

Residents of Meriting Phase 2 pay up to R300 a month for electricity that could kill them.

Families in Meriting Phase 2, Lenasia South, have waited almost 10 years for formal electricity. Candles, paraffin and gas are too expensive, so many rely on illegal connections (izinyoka) instead.

But the real cost is not only money. A community leader says nine people have died this year, five of them children. Health-e News could not independently verify the figures. One mother lost her teenage son when he was electrocuted on his way to relieve himself. There was no toilet at home.

City Power says it cannot simply switch on the power. The city's human settlements department must first check the land and plan the area. Until then, City Power warns, illegal connections remain a risk to residents and the network.

With local elections next month, residents want to know: who will finally fix this?

👇 Full story in the comments.
✍️ Via Lerato Kodisang

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