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South Sudanese refugee children in northern Uganda

Could this country be among the world’s best for refugees?

Many Ugandans were once refugees themselves. Now, they are 'paying back the good' and making their country one of the best in the world for refugees.
Making waves: Women on Web offers an online portal that dispatches an abortion pill to people across the world.

‘I told them I had a miscarriage. But the nurses knew what had really...

Go inside the international network of women willing to break the law to give people access to termination of pregnancy services.
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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.

Up in smoke: The Black tobacco farmers British American Tobacco left behind

Some small-scale black tobacco farmers in Limpopo feel that the tobacco industry supported them under the guise of an upliftment programme, but then used them to fight against illicit tobacco trade. By 2021, the financial support dried up.

#SayHerName: The faces of South Africa’s femicide epidemic

This is an ode to the women whose names made it into news outlets between 2018 and 2020. It’s also a tribute to those who didn’t – the faceless, nameless women whose stories will remain untold. This project is a collaboration among Bhekisisa, Media Hack and the Canon Collins Trust.
Being bilingual is better for your brain. Now

Speak more than one language? This is what it does to your brain.

Speaking more than one language could lead to better tests scores and even being a more empathetic person.
'I could have died': Buhle Bhengu was duped into having an illegal abortion.

‘It didn’t take long for [the fetus] to come out. There was a human-like...

Left with little choice, many women turn to illegal abortionists to terminate their pregnancies.
​Acid victim Hanifa Nakiryowa founded the Center for Rehabilitation of Survivors of Acid and Burns Violence.

Acid attacks: ‘I didn’t have the money to buy justice, but I had brains...

In the wake of acid attacks, victims — often women — can feel hopeless. Now, women around the world are fighting back.

‘I missed a dose for the first time’: How the KZN floods derailed HIV...

The April 2022 floods in KwaZulu-Natal, left Mfundo Shezi without HIV treatment for two weeks. He had no way of getting more because the centre he frequents was closed for two weeks – and his ID book was washed away.

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.

Why these health workers are spending their lives in South Africa’s poorest villages

Rural hospitals and clinics struggle to attract or retain senior healthcare professionals. Health workers who grew up in rural towns can plug the gap as they are more likely to work at facilities in far-flung places than their urban counterparts.
More than half of men in Diepsloot report having sexually or physically abused a woman in their lifetimes

Diepsloot: Where men think it’s their right to rape

Crime stats released in 2015 reported a drop in rape cases, but experts say this is because fewer people are bothering to report rapes to the police.
Men play a crucial role in keeping babies HIV negative.

Love & other drugs: Men could make all the difference in keeping your baby...

Men can help to prevent new HIV infections by showing up for their partners. Here’s how:
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A doctor born of hope

This man from rural Eastern Cape had to travel all the way to Cuba to make his dream of becoming a doctor come true. Now, he is back home and treating patients at the same hospital his mother used to sell fruit in front of when he was a boy.
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The lost particles of grief: How COVID-19 is changing death

From grandmothers to gravediggers, the sudden, suffocating deaths of the coronavirus pandemic is affecting people in all sectors of South African society. Here’s one Cape Town family’s story of life after death. 
A mother delivers via C-section in Mozambique. In South Africa

A changing birth: What’s behind SA’s skyrocketing c-section rates?

Almost one in four babies born at public hospitals come into the world via c-section but is it costing some women their lives?