By: Thembi Mahlathi and Hloni Manare Any person living with HIV understands the importance of daily medication. For Nyasha*, a 35-year-old woman from Zimbabwe and living in South Africa for over a decade, access to lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) medication was not just a matter of routine but also survival. Nyasha Continue Reading
By: Leila Ebrahim Grade 12 is a pivotal transitional phase in a learner’s life, marking the culmination of 12 years of schooling – a milestone many eagerly anticipate completing. For 18-year-old Naledi Bereng*, a grade 12 learner, the 2024 academic year brought with it the promise of life beyond school. Continue Reading
By: Kholofelo Mphahlele In the rural stretches of the Limpopo Province, along gravel roads where opportunity often feels distant, 24 young learners from Burghersdorp Secondary School completed their National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations at the end of 2025. These learners had worked tirelessly, often against the odds, dreaming of higher education, jobs, and a Continue Reading
By: Emihle Majikija The transition from primary to secondary school often brings new possibilities, hopes, and beginnings for a learner. In November of 2024, Zethu* received news that her granddaughter, Gugu*, had been provisionally accepted into the 2025 Grade 8 class at Hyde Park High School – a fee-paying public school in the leafy, affluent suburbs of Sandton, north of Johannesburg. Zethu let out a sigh of relief. Unlike Continue Reading
By: Hloni Manare A routine minibus taxi ride from Hillbrow to Orange Grove, north of Johannesburg, quickly turned into a nightmare for Flora* a documented migrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 2024, the 45-year-old mother of three found herself in excruciating pain in the back seat Continue Reading
By: Kholofelo Mphahlele and Gillian Pillay Sunday, 15 June 2025 started off as another normal day for the Moyo* family. It is also a day that will forever remain etched in their memory. The Moyos, who reside in Springs, Gauteng, vividly recalled how their world forever changed after a devastating Continue Reading
By: Tsadok Yehudah We often take for granted just how much we rely on our sense of sight in our daily lives. For Michelle Myers*, a documented Ethiopian refugee living in South Africa, this was a diminishing reality as her world was literally fading to black. Michelle has called South Continue Reading
By: Hloni Manare Bringing new life into the world is a life-changing experience for any mother. For 26-year-old, South African-born Maria Matthews*, news that she would become a mother for the second time was an exciting possibility. Like any other expectant mother, Maria prepared to welcome her newest addition into Continue Reading
By: Gillian Pillay and Vuyelwa Nkumanda Nestled in the remote, lush hills of the Khalavha village in Fondwe, Venda, lies Jack Lavhengwa Secondary School, located in a region synonymous with water scarcity. Jack Lavhengwa is a Quintile 3, no fee-paying secondary school which accommodates fewer than 250 learners between grades Continue Reading
By: Benni Mudau The South African Constitution guarantees that every child has the right to access basic education. However, for siblings Lebogang* and Tebatso Ngcobo* – grade eight and ten learners respectively – from the New Horizon College, a private school in Harrismith in the Free State, this right was Continue Reading
By: Hloni Manare and Benni Mudau Any parent would be left powerless at the sight of their child suffering from an unexplained illness. Hassan Tesfaye* and his wife, Aida*, Ethiopian asylum seekers who have been living in Pretoria, South Africa, for 16 years, were all too familiar with this sense Continue Reading
By: Samukelisiwe Msane Meet *Neema Ntumba, a 36-year-old refugee, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who has called Pretoria her home for a decade. As a refugee, Neema can access the same healthcare services as South African citizens as set out in the Constitution. However, the reality of accessing Continue Reading
