'We don't want to die waiting'

NO TREATMENT: CANCER PATIENTS IN GRUELLING WAIT

- Thando Nondywana

Entities go to court to force department to spend R784m to address backlogs.

While millions of rands for cancer treatment pile up, patients in Gauteng are fighting not just their illness but also a broken system.

The Cancer Alliance, represented by advocacy group Section27, has filed an application in the High Court in Johannesburg against the Gauteng health department for its alleged failure to spend R784 million allocated by the Gauteng Treasury in 2023 to address the radiation backlog and other surgical backlogs in the province.

The alliance says that for Gauteng's cancer patients, the promise of life-saving treatment has turned into a gruelling wait.

Earlier in April, the alliance, with Section27, the Treatment Action Campaign, and patients waiting for cancer treatment, marched to the department's offices demanding that it use the R784 million allocated for cancer treatment.

Lydia Staats from Springs was among the crowd. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2022 and has since had one recurrence. She has waited for 18 months to get radiation oncology treatment.