Litigation: Gauteng
Health Department
When the system fails patients, we take action. Our court case against the Gauteng Department of Health challenged serious breakdowns in cancer services and demanded accountability. This case stands up for patients’ rights and sends a clear message that delays and neglect are not acceptable.
3000 Patients on a Backlog list at Charlotte Maxeke, waiting patiently for radiation therapy treatment.
Radiation therapy should start within nine weeks of surgery or chemotherapy. In Gauteng, systemic failures placed patients with breast, prostate, cervical, and colon cancers on long waiting lists, in some cases risking loss of treatment altogether. These delays are not administrative issues, they violate patients’ constitutional right to health and dignity, and put lives at risk.
Negotiations Succeeded: Cancer Crisis in Gauteng
Funding Secure to Address Gauteng
Cancer Crisis.
Sustained advocacy worked. Cancer Alliance, with the Treatment Action Campaign and SECTION27, secured ring-fenced funding to tackle Gauteng’s cancer backlog, enabling urgent outsourced care and critical equipment procurement. This progress brings timely treatment and renewed hope to patients who have waited too long.
MEET THE FIGHTERS
Meet Thatho Moncho
(1984 – 2026) Breast Cancer patient & Health Advocate, witness.
Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021, Thato was an ideal candidate for radiation therapy at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. Instead of receiving life-saving treatment, she was confronted with a broken health system that failed her when she needed it most.
Despite being denied timely care, Thato continued to fight, not only for herself, but for other cancer patients facing the same injustice. She spoke out, demanded accountability, and stood for the right to treatment until her passing.
Thato’s story is a powerful reminder that delays in cancer care are not just system failures, they cost lives. Her courage strengthens our commitment t