The impact of the Trump administration’s slashing of over half of South Africa’s HIV and TB projects funded by the US government, transcends reduced access to HIV testing and HIV prevention and treatment drugs. Treatment for diabetes, high blood pressure, cervical cancer, depression and anxiety will become harder to come by too.
Zano Kunene is a health journalist at Bhekisisa.
- Zano Kunenehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/zanokunene/July 8, 2025
- Zano Kunenehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/zanokunene/June 26, 2025
- Zano Kunenehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/zanokunene/June 23, 2025
- Zano Kunenehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/zanokunene/April 29, 2025
About 40% of the health workers who collected data in the country’s HIV hotspots either lost their jobs in February or will be jobless in September, leaving a massive knowledge gap in their wake. Experts warn not knowing what we don’t know is dangerous.
Ida Jooste is a seasoned health and science journalist. She has worked in newsrooms in Durban, Johannesburg and Nairobi, winning more than 20 national and international media awards for her work. An international trainer and speaker, she led a global COVID-19 media initiative and provides journalist mentoring in all areas of health science.
- Ida Joostehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/idaj/July 14, 2025
- Ida Joostehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/idaj/April 22, 2025
- Ida Joostehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/idaj/March 4, 2025
- Ida Joostehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/idaj/February 13, 2025
It’s been two decades since the denialism war was won in South Africa. Now HIV scientists and government are pitted against each other once again, with one side saying the health minister is in denial over the impact of US funding cuts and the minister is accusing the activists and the media of overblowing the crisis and spreading disinformation.
Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/July 15, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/July 2, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/June 5, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/May 28, 2025
While discoveries like these rarely make the news, it happens all the time. We asked leading forensic pathologist Shakeera Holland what her team found after studying remains at the Diepkloof Forensic Pathology Service in Soweto.
- Bhekisisa Teamhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/bhekisisa-team/June 17, 2025
- Bhekisisa Teamhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/bhekisisa-team/May 5, 2025
- Bhekisisa Teamhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/bhekisisa-team/March 25, 2025
- Bhekisisa Teamhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/bhekisisa-team/March 12, 2025
How does ADHD medicine work and what can — and can’t — it do? The medication is often abused by university students wanting to cram during exams. But, as psychiatrist Renata Schoeman tells Mia Malan, ADHD meds don’t work for people without the condition.
Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/July 15, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/July 2, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/June 5, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/May 28, 2025
Today, people over 50 make up the second largest group of South Africa’s HIV-positive population. But as people age, health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes rise too, which means more and more people will have to be treated for these conditions — on top of getting HIV care. We look at what the numbers show.
Linda Pretorius is a consultant for Bhekisisa’s data desk.
- Linda Pretoriushttps://bhekisisa.org/author/linda-pretorius/June 11, 2025
- Linda Pretoriushttps://bhekisisa.org/author/linda-pretorius/April 24, 2025
- Linda Pretoriushttps://bhekisisa.org/author/linda-pretorius/March 19, 2025
- Linda Pretoriushttps://bhekisisa.org/author/linda-pretorius/March 3, 2025
Jacques Verryn is a software developer and independent consultant, with special interest in data analysis and visualisation.
- Jacques Verrynhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/jacquesv/June 11, 2025
- Jacques Verrynhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/jacquesv/April 24, 2025
- Jacques Verrynhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/jacquesv/March 19, 2025
- Jacques Verrynhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/jacquesv/March 3, 2025
Plenty of people told Sarah Stein that practising medicine would be difficult. Now, as a fifth year medical student at the University of Cape Town, she wishes she would have listened more carefully.
Sarah Stein is a fifth year medical student at the University of Cape Town. She loves hiking, laughing with the people she loves, and romanticising about Cape Town.
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Women have had the right to choose to end their pregnancies for 30 years in SA — and government facilities that offer the service do it for free. Here’s what is (still) driving so many of them to unsafe providers.
- Bhekisisa Teamhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/bhekisisa-team/June 17, 2025
- Bhekisisa Teamhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/bhekisisa-team/May 15, 2025
- Bhekisisa Teamhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/bhekisisa-team/March 25, 2025
- Bhekisisa Teamhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/bhekisisa-team/March 12, 2025
Baby Savers South Africa is taking the government to court over the ban on baby boxes in Gauteng. Are they a harmful tool that makes child abandonment and trafficking easy, or a lifesaver for mothers with nowhere to turn? With about 3 500 babies abandoned unsafely each year, Health Beat looks at whether a maternal support grant could help change that.
Anna-Maria van Niekerk is Bhekisisa’s news editor. She joined the centre after six years as the managing editor of the investigative television show, Carte Blanche. Anna-Maria has an extensive career in in-depth health and human rights reporting and has been named both the Vodacom Journalist (2002) and Discovery Health Journalist of the Year (2010) for exposés on the selling of human body parts for muti in Limpopo and the devastating consequences of HIV denialism.
- Anna-Maria van Niekerkhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/anna-m/July 2, 2025
- Anna-Maria van Niekerkhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/anna-m/May 28, 2025
- Anna-Maria van Niekerkhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/anna-m/March 31, 2025
- Anna-Maria van Niekerkhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/anna-m/March 21, 2025
Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/July 15, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/July 2, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/June 5, 2025
- Mia Malanhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/mia/May 28, 2025
Jessica Pitchford is Bhekisisa's TV and multimedia editor. She's been a journalist since the early nineties and has reported on some pivotal events in South Africa’s political history, such as the country’s transition to democracy and the work of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
- Jessica Pitchfordhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/jessica-pitchford/July 2, 2025
- Jessica Pitchfordhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/jessica-pitchford/May 28, 2025
- Jessica Pitchfordhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/jessica-pitchford/March 31, 2025
- Jessica Pitchfordhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/jessica-pitchford/March 21, 2025
Yolanda Mdzeke was a junior multimedia reporter and multimedia reporter at Bhekisisa between March 2021 and June 2025.
- Yolanda Mdzekehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/yolanda/July 2, 2025
- Yolanda Mdzekehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/yolanda/May 28, 2025
- Yolanda Mdzekehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/yolanda/March 31, 2025
- Yolanda Mdzekehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/yolanda/March 21, 2025
Thatego Mashabela is a multimedia producer at Bhekisisa.
- Thatego Mashabelahttps://bhekisisa.org/author/thategom/July 2, 2025
- Thatego Mashabelahttps://bhekisisa.org/author/thategom/May 28, 2025
- Thatego Mashabelahttps://bhekisisa.org/author/thategom/March 31, 2025
- Thatego Mashabelahttps://bhekisisa.org/author/thategom/March 21, 2025
- Justin Barlowhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/justin-barlow/July 2, 2025
- Justin Barlowhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/justin-barlow/March 31, 2025
- Justin Barlowhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/justin-barlow/March 21, 2025
- Justin Barlowhttps://bhekisisa.org/author/justin-barlow/February 25, 2025
Trump’s slash and burn to foreign aid has hit HIV programmes hard. Here’s what this Limpopo clinic has been doing to prepare for such cuts — and what they’ve learned about surviving over the past 20 years.
Zano Kunene is a health journalist at Bhekisisa.
- Zano Kunenehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/zanokunene/July 8, 2025
- Zano Kunenehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/zanokunene/June 26, 2025
- Zano Kunenehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/zanokunene/June 23, 2025
- Zano Kunenehttps://bhekisisa.org/author/zanokunene/May 26, 2025