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Son of Sekhukhuneland: Why Motsoaledi won’t let go of the NHI 

When our profile writer, Sean Christie, asked Aaron Motsoaledi for a form of life story share, South Africa’s health minister responded with a swift biographical flyover. But Christie was more interested in a sense of the experiences that lie behind the bullet points, both good and bad.

They arrived in Cuba with a suitcase and returned to SA as doctors. We...

Mzulungile Nodikida, Sanele Madela, Bongile Mabilane, Nhlakanipho Gumede and Godisamang Kegakilwe have one thing in common: they studied medicine in Cuba.Since its establishment in...

From ordering a Coke in Cuba to Sama’s top seat: Meet Mzulungile Nodikida

In February, Mzulungile Nodikida stepped into the top seat at the South African Medical Association. He tells Sean Christie how he went from playing soccer and cricket while at school in the Eastern Cape to studying medicine in Cuba — and how his career path moved from seeing patients every day to steering an organisation that stands for “uniting doctors for the health of the nation”.

How Groote Schuur — and a bit of tango — primed Ntobeko Ntusi to...

In 2016, when renowned South African cardiologist Ntobeko Ntusi stepped into the role as head and chair of the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) department of medicine, he took on both responsibilities and a legacy that most would have baulked at, amidst much scrutiny. He spoke to Sean Christie about his life’s trajectory, shortly before he joins the South African Medical Research Council as its new president and CEO.

Suspicion, stigma and systems: Africa’s healthcare story

At a conference towards the end of last year, some of the great names in African public healthcare shared their lessons about what can — and can’t — work on the continent, from setting up new hospitals to implementing national health insurance. Sean Christie was there.

Big hospital, big boss — Bara ICU’s Rudo Mathivha retires

In July, Rudo Mathivha handed in her notice at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, ending a rightly celebrated 25-year stint as head of the intensive care unit. It was after a truly terrible year. Her story underscores the extent to which quality healthcare for the country’s most vulnerable people remains at the mercy of the indifferent and the corrupt.

From Moshi to Moscow: How a girl from the slopes of Kilimanjaro became Tanzania’s...

In 1969, Esther Mwaikambo became Tanzania’s first female doctor. Today, she is arguably also the country’s most famous. She tells Sean Christie how public healthcare in Africa has changed — and what she wishes for the future.

The importance of being Brimey

With a black beret “à la the EFF” and fire-engine red scrubs, Ebrahim Variava is not scared to speak out against the ills of a broken public health system — something that got him suspended from his post as head of internal medicine at the Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Meet the doctor for whom patients are always the priority.

The cost of caring: Zithulele’s Ben Gaunt, one year later

In 2022, after a decade of service, Ben Gaunt, who led a team who transformed Zithulele Hospital in the Eastern Cape from a struggling public health facility into a poster child of excellence, left the facility. The drama, which followed the appointment of a controversial CEO, was well publicised. We spoke to Gaunt one year later.

From Alexander Bay to Tshwane: Meet the health department’s Mrs Impossible

From growing up without a telephone to her appointment as the chief director of digital health systems in the national health department, the sweep of Milani Wolmarans’s life story is as wide as it is inspiring. Sean Christie spoke to her in Tshwane.

Meet Andy Gray, the ‘insider’s insider’ of SA drug policy

Pharmacy expert Andy Gray is the “insider’s insider” in South Africa’s public health sphere. Get to know him better here.
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What ChatGPT won’t tell you about Tlaleng Mofokeng

Get to know sexual and reproductive rights activist and doctor Tlaleng Mofokeng with our reporter Sean Christie.

A mezuzah, a Christmas wreath & rooibos with milk: Get to know this NICD...

Anne von Gottberg and Cheryl Cohen are two of South Africa’s foremost scientists. We’ve got them and their colleagues to thank for the country’s world class surveillance of SARS-CoV-2. But this powerful duo are also experts on how to bridge divides — and married.
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What happened to HIV activist Zackie Achmat?

Zackie Achmat was one of the most vociferous voices against former president Thabo Mbeki’s HIV denialism in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He now lives in downtown Cape Town and fights state capture — and broken trains.

‘Call me Tumi’: Meet the young woman who heads SA’s medicines regulator

Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela leads the country’s medicines regulator, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra), a public entity few people knew about until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. COVID triggered a noisy scramble for vaccines, tests and treatments that needed to be approved — often embroiled in politics.