Health

“If my baby is dead, why don’t they just tell me?”

After recovering from a difficult labour, Nolitha Kamana went to look for her baby in the hospital wards, only to find the child in the mortuary. Her story is one of scores collected by the Treatment Action Campaign highlighting problems in maternity and obstetrics units in Cape Town. GroundUp's Mary-Anne Gontsana spoke to some of the women.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

Feature | 9 September 2015

How poverty interferes with dreams: Andiswa Nkuphe’s story

Andiswa Nkuphe lives with her eight siblings. Their house is a shipping container. Despite good school results and ambitions of becoming a nurse, she has to take care of her siblings, because their mother has been sick for almost two years and she's been in hospital since January this year.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

News | 8 September 2015

Conditions at Pollsmoor “profoundly disturbing”, says judge

Constitutional Court judge Edwin Cameron and his law clerks have published a scathing report of Pollsmoor Prison after visiting the remand centre — where awaiting trial prisoners are kept — and the women's centre on 23 April. Some of their findings are consistent with those reported by GroundUp in May.

GroundUp Staff

News | 4 September 2015

Buffalo City janitors have to pay for their own toilet cleaning materials

Janitors employed by the Buffalo City municipality in East London to clean toilets say they are forced to pay for cleaning materials and gloves from their own salaries.

Nombulelo Damba-Hendrik

Feature | 3 September 2015

Barcelona residents angered by piles of rubbish

Rubbish is piling up in front of people’s homes in Barcelona informal settlement near Gugulethu and the airport in Cape Town. Residents showed their displeasure this morning by dumping rubbish on the N2.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 2 September 2015

Jobs more important than smells, say Hangberg residents

The proposed closure of Oceana’s Hout Bay Fishmeal and Fish Oil Facility is worrying people of Hangberg, where many employees live.

Ashleigh Furlong

Feature | 2 September 2015

Who is to blame for the medicines backlog?

The Medicines Control Council has for many years been severely criticised for the exceptionally long time it takes to register a medicine. It is not unusual for a medicine to become available in Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States years ahead of its appearance in South Africa.

Henry M. J. Leng and David Sanders

Analysis | 31 August 2015

Mothers march for quality care

Several hundred mothers, pregnant women, men and activists marched to the provincial legislature and parliament on Thursday to highlight problems accessing quality maternal and obstetric care in the Western Cape.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 27 August 2015

Call for parliament’s HIV committee to be revived

Civil society groups have called for the revival of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on HIV & AIDS.

Bernard Chiguvare

News | 27 August 2015