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By the end of October, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) will submit a proposal to President Cyril Rampahosa with solutions to their concerns about the National Health Insurance Act. This follows a September meeting with the president. But is there hope for change? In this podcast, Mia Malan asks Ramaphosa’s special advisor, Olive Shisana, and Busa CEO, Cas Coovadia, what to expect.

Will patients be able to get quality healthcare from public hospitals once the National Health Insurance is in place — whether for lifesaving operations like heart surgery or routine check-ups for things like blood pressure or diabetes? Bhekisisa’s Health Beat team talks to a patient and his doctor at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital about their experiences — and what state hospitals can offer if run well.

Our Health Beat team takes you on a tour of some Gauteng hospital success stories — from an NHI-like project, the Chiawelo Community Practice in Soweto, to the lifesaving cardiothoracic surgery unit at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

Compromise isn’t a word favoured by the Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, when it comes to rolling out universal healthcare, despite objections from some of the ANC’s coalition partners. Mia Malan sits down with Motsoaledi to find out how he plans to deliver National Health Insurance amid legal challenges, little money and a system that needs fundamental fixing.

The Boikanyo Mentally and Disabled Children Centre in Temba in northern Gauteng is home to kids with cerebral palsy, autism and Down’s syndrome. But when they turn 18, many have nowhere to go.

Has psychiatric care in our government health system improved eight years after Life Esidimeni during which 141 mental health patients died because of negligence? Health Beat visits a community mental health organisation, talks to Section27, the Gauteng government and a counselling organisation, Heal SA, to find out.

Four days after our TV show, Health Beat, was broadcast on eNCA — the Freedom Recovery Centre, which helps drug users sober up, got confirmation from the Gauteng government that they would receive the subsidy they had been waiting for for months. Without it, they would have had to close their doors.

Social development budgets in Gauteng have been steadily declining, from R2.13-billion in 2022/2023 to R1.9-billion this year. Non-profit organisations say funding they’ve relied on for years is halted without adequate explanation, leaving some of them with no option but to close, and residents with no alternative care.

Most people with mpox recover without treatment. But all South Africa’s cases, so far, have had to be hospitalised; all cases were also infected with HIV, which was mostly untreated. In this podcast, Mia Malan asks Jacqueline Weyer of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases how large the country’s mpox outbreak will be.

Kya Sand, a neighbourhood northwest of Johannesburg, is one of several suburbs overrun with illegal dumping sites. Health Beat speaks to residents whose health and wellbeing have been affected; and finds out how community activists are trying to get the City of Joburg to take responsibility.

The ANC has National Health Insurance, the DA thinks the answer to better healthcare lies in the private sector working with the public sector, and the EFF says we need a clinic in each municipal ward. So who is right? It’s for you to decide with your vote.

Section 24 of the Constitution says all South Africans have the right to clean and safe living environments. But if they’re not getting that, to whom do they turn in the face of illegal dumping, toxic waste, sluggish local government and politicians chasing the popular vote? Health Beat finds out.

Six influential health experts questioned the ANC, DA, EFF and independent candidate Zackie Achmat on how they plan to fix South Africa’s health system in Bhekisisa’s elections webinar on Tuesday. Here’s a summary of what was said.

Governments have the power to make decisions that can mean the difference between life and death when it comes to health matters. Watch four politicians say what they’ll do to fix South Africa’s health system after the 29 May elections and answer questions from civil society and public health advocates.

Geneveve Heinse, is one of an estimated 7.8-million South Africans infected with HIV. Over the years, treatment — and the stigma attached to HIV — have changed; yet each day, about 400 people in the country still get infected with HIV. Travel to Masiphumelele in the Western Cape with our Health Beat team to find out what treatment is available for free at government clinics today.

Malegapuru Makgoba, South Africa’s former health ombud, has seen the country’s health system grow, change and sometimes falter under six health ministers over the last 30 years. Mia Malan asks him what lessons we have learnt in this Health Beat show, Bhekisisa’s monthly TV programme.