- Condemned as a shameful human rights violation, eight years since the Life Esidimeni fiasco, psychiatric care in our public health system is still wanting.
- Suicidal young people often have to wait weeks for counselling, while homes for those living with mental and physical disabilities are few and far between.
- It’s an environment that needs more education and larger budgets, say experts.
- Health Beat visits a centre in Hammanskraal that is, despite challenges, providing a stimulating environment for disabled children.
- Mia Malan also speaks to Section27’s Sasha Stevenson about how Gauteng health department officials responsible for the Life Esidimeni deaths should be punished and speaks to the mental health organisation, Heal SA, about students’ counselling needs.
In today’s newsletter, our Health Beat team looks into the state of mental healthcare in South Africa. Sign up for our newsletter now.
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.
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.
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.
Yolanda Mdzeke was a junior multimedia reporter and multimedia reporter at Bhekisisa between March 2021 and June 2025.
Thatego Mashabela was a multimedia producer at Bhekisisa from February 2024 to October 2025.
Cebelihle Bhengu was a TV health reporter/producer for Health Beat from May to July 2024.
Hannah Glaser is a student at the Craig Newmark School of Journalism at City University of New York. She interned with the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism from June to July 2024.
Astra Rincón Montañez is a student at the Craig Newmark School of Journalism at City University of New York. She interned with the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism from June to July 2024.
Ruan Visser is a South African-based freelance director of photography, crafting visual narratives with a keen eye for detail and a love for cinematic storytelling.
