Health

HRC: Cape Town’s chemical toilets violate human rights

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) has found that the City of Cape Town's roll out of chemical toilets unfairly discriminates against “black African” people, and violates the rights to basic sanitation and dignity of informal settlement residents.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 16 July 2014

Teachers, students and parents demand toilets and libraries for schools

“Our school has four pit-toilets, two for the boys and two for the girls”, Yonela Jumba says. “These toilets are also used by the teachers.”

Koketso Moeti

News | 16 July 2014

Death with dignity not only a debate for developed countries

Desmond Tutu's support for assisted dying made headlines across the world this week, and brought the debate into the mainstream in South Africa.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 15 July 2014

The Week in Political Activism

This week we report arrests at a health demonstration in the Free State, the African Union’s recent move to immunise leaders from war crime prosecution, and an upcoming school infrastructure reform conference.

Michelle Korte

News | 10 July 2014

Open letter to the Social Justice Coalition

Counsellor Ernest Sonnenberg has written an open letter to Phumeza Mlungwana, General Secretary of the Social Justice Coalition (SJC). This follows the report published by GroundUp on the SJC's toilet mapping initiative.

Ernest Sonnenberg

Opinion | 10 July 2014

“I love what I do, but there are many problems as well.” - a community health worker’s story

A Delft South community health worker (CHW) had no choice, but to take two weeks unpaid leave after sustaining a serious back injury while bathing a patient earlier this year.

Barbara Maregele

News | 9 July 2014

Activists call for fair employment conditions for community health workers

Community health workers (CHWs) are an essential link between communities and the often confusing health-care system. There are about 70,000 of them countrywide. They do a myriad tasks: visiting and assisting frail people at their homes, educating people about HIV and TB, and much more. But their conditions of employment are beset with problems.

Barbara Maregele

News | 9 July 2014

Project to map Khayelitsha’s toilets could improve sanitation

Two organisations have teamed up to map public flush toilet locations in Khayelitsha. They will launch an interactive website and phone-based reporting system to improve efficiency in toilet maintenance.

Michelle Korte

News | 8 July 2014

The week in political activism

This week we cover the availability of generic drug-resistant tuberculosis medication in Khayelitsha, a worldwide anti-corruption campaign taken up by Corruption Watch, a parents’ camp hosted by Equal Education, and an upcoming school infrastructure reform conference.

Michelle Korte

News | 3 July 2014

New contraceptive is so popular that stocks are running dry

Such was the demand for a newly-introduced female contraceptive implant that stocks ran dry in the Ilembe district a week before the month's end in April. After stalling for three weeks, the programme restarted when stocks were replenished in the second week of May.

Ruth Atkinson

News | 3 July 2014

Help! People are breathing here

Breathing air that does not damage health is one of the most important constitutional rights. But some municipalities on the polluted Mpumalanga Highveld are battling to enforce the Air Quality Act, writes Robyn Hugo.

Robyn Hugo

Opinion | 1 July 2014

Mother of four battles to survive

HIV-positive Zuziwe* from Nyanga is worried about how she is going to survive this winter because she says she doesn’t have enough food or blankets for her children.

Pharie Sefali

News | 1 July 2014

Apartheid’s Nuclear Shame

During apartheid, a nuclear weapons programme at Pelindaba used workers from nearby settlements. Decades have gone by and millions of rands have been spent on investigations, yet questions remain and hundreds of workers who claim to have become ill after exposure to hazardous material are still fighting for compensation.

Mandy de Waal and Jon Pienaar

Feature | 27 June 2014

Dust unsettles mining community

Every day at 4pm the small community of Pullenshope in Hendrina is shaken by a loud explosion, earth-shaking tremors and clouds of dust. Situated less than a kilometre from the Eskom-owned Hendrina Power Station, residents say respiratory illnesses are on the rise.

Barbara Maregele

News | 23 June 2014

Mining town residents voice health concerns

Polluted water, shattered windows and cracked walls were among the concerns voiced by Middelburg residents during a workshop hosted by the Centre for Environmental Rights on 18 June.

Barbara Maregele

News | 19 June 2014

The environmental legacy of mining on the Mpumalanga Highveld

The pungent smell of burning coal as one flies over mining plants and power stations in close proximity to each other on the Mpumalanga Highveld area is testimony to the dangerous effects these industries have had on the people who live in nearby communities.

Barbara Maregele

News | 18 June 2014