Health Department settles R43-million debt to resume chemotherapy treatment
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The treatment of hundreds of cancer patients was thrown into disarray after the Eastern Cape Department of Health failed to pay its bills.
Photo: iStock
Daily Maverick reporting brought hundreds of cancer patients, including children, back into treatment after the Eastern Cape Health Department had let chemotherapy supply collapse through unpaid bills.
- Patients affected
- Hundreds, including paediatric oncology cases
- Funds unlocked
- R200-million ringfenced for essential specialist medicines
- Debts settled
- R43-million paid to pharmaceutical suppliers
- Systemic reform
- Departmental procurement processes improved as a direct result
- Continued monitoring
- A second shortage in October 2025 was picked up and resolved after follow-up reporting
The issue
By May 2025, hospitals across the Eastern Cape were turning cancer patients away. Cyclical chemotherapy treatments were being interrupted, creating drug resistance risk, and new patients could not start treatment as their disease progressed. The cause was administrative: the Eastern Cape Department of Health had failed to pay pharmaceutical suppliers, who had suspended deliveries and, in some cases, the department's accounts.
Existing accountability mechanisms had failed. Medical staff had already raised the alarm. The South African Human Rights Commission had launched an investigation following a DA complaint. Neither had produced movement.
What Daily Maverick did
Senior journalist Estelle Ellis investigated the supply collapse from May 2025, tracing it back to unpaid invoices and tracking the political response in real time. Coverage continued through delivery delays in June and a second shortage in October 2025, with follow-up reporting that tested whether the department's reformed processes were holding.
The outcome
The MEC for Health's office confirmed R200-million had been ringfenced for essential specialist medicines, R43-million of which was used to settle pharmaceutical debts. Drugs reached hospitals within a month of the bills being paid. The department subsequently confirmed to Daily Maverick that internal procurement processes had been improved as a direct result of the May and June 2025 shortage. The October 2025 follow-up shortage was resolved more quickly, indicating the reforms have partial effect.
Status
Ongoing monitoringThe bureau continues to track Eastern Cape oncology supply chains and will report on further failures or sustained improvements.
Securing four cardiologist contracts at Livingstone Hospital within a day of publication
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The cath lab at Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital, part of Livingstone Tertiary Hospital, sat unused this month as cardiologists' contracts had lapsed.
Photo: Theo Jephta
Daily Maverick's investigation into deadly delays in cardiac care prompted Livingstone Hospital to sign contracts for four cardiologists the day after publication.
- Specialists hired
- Four cardiologist contracts signed within 24 hours of publication
- Critical window
- The "golden hour" for restoring blood flow after a heart attack was being systematically missed
- Vacancies exposed
- Posts for cardiologists, specialist nurses and technicians had been unfilled for years
- Equipment status
- Catheterisation lab machinery out of commission due to lapsed service contracts
- Surgical disruption
- Operations cancelled because hospital laundry services had collapsed
The issue
At the beginning of April 2026, an investigation revealed a critical breakdown in cardiac care at Livingstone Hospital in Nelson Mandela Bay. Patients were arriving at hospitals only to find that the specialised equipment needed to save them was non-functional or the necessary staff were unavailable due to administrative negligence. As a result the "golden hour" for patients — the critical window to restore blood flow after a heart attack — was being systematically missed.
The failure was multi-faceted: lapsed contracts for cardiologists with specialist posts vacant for years; convoluted hiring processes that drove available specialists into the private sector or overseas before the state could finalise an offer; equipment in catheterisation labs out of commission for extended periods; lapsed service contracts meaning technicians would not come to fix machinery; collapsed hospital laundry services cancelling surgeries because there were no clean surgical gowns or linens; and a department that routinely uses the current year's budget to pay off the previous year's debt, exhausting the budget for life-saving consumables like stents and balloons and leaving doctors to watch patients die from treatable conditions.
What Daily Maverick did
Senior journalist Estelle Ellis built the investigation by speaking to clinicians on the ground at Livingstone Hospital and tracing the administrative failures across staffing, equipment, service contracts and provincial finance. The story was published at the beginning of April 2026.
The outcome
Estelle received a call the day after publication of her article saying contracts for four cardiologists had been signed.
Status
Active investigationThe bureau will continue to monitor the situation and report again on the action taken, or lack of.
Additional security deployed at Markman Market after months of inaction
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Lindsay Knowlden was kidnapped from the Fresh Produce Market in Markman Industrial in an early-morning attack — the moment business leaders declared the area "uninvestable."
Facebook / Illustration
Sustained Daily Maverick reporting on Gqeberha's industrial security crisis broke months of municipal inaction and prompted the deployment of additional security at the Markman Fresh Produce Market.
- Sustained coverage
- Three published articles tracking the crisis from June to September 2025
- Trigger event
- High-profile abduction of a local businesswoman in the Markman industrial zone
- Business stance
- Industry leaders declared the area "uninvestable" without specialised anti-kidnapping units and visible policing
- Failed mechanisms
- Multiple Business Chamber meetings produced no visible patrols, working CCTV, or infrastructure protection
- Direct outcome
- Municipality deployed additional security guards at the Markman Fresh Produce Market
The issue
In 2025, an escalating security crisis took hold in the Markman Industrial area of Gqeberha. Following the high-profile abduction of a local businesswoman in the Markman industrial zone, business leaders issued a stern ultimatum to the South African Police Service and the municipality, stating that the lack of specialised anti-kidnapping units and visible policing was making the area "uninvestable."
Despite numerous meetings between the Business Chamber and provincial leadership, and a promised "Integrated Security Plan" for the city's industrial hubs, there was no visible increase in patrols, functional CCTV, or infrastructure protection. Businesses were left spending millions on private security and "cluster" surveillance arrangements while existing accountability channels failed to deliver action.
What Daily Maverick did
Senior journalists Riaan Marais and Estelle Ellis tracked the escalating security crisis across 2025, from the abduction in June through months of stalled response. Coverage followed the Business Chamber's escalating demands and tested whether the municipality's promised security plan was being implemented — publishing three articles between June and September 2025.
The outcome
Following the bureau's coverage, the municipality eventually deployed additional security guards at the Markman Fresh Produce Market. However, without functional street lighting and a centralised, rapid-response command centre, static guards are sitting ducks. But it is a start. Pressure is on to get the municipality to do more.
Status
Ongoing monitoringPressure continues for the municipality to do more, particularly on functional street lighting and a centralised, rapid-response command centre for industrial areas.
Metro recruits plumbers in response to coverage that 60% of water supply lost to leaks
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The St George's Wellfield in Gqeberha — completed in March 2023 at a cost of R46-million and meant to supply two million litres a day — has been offline for more than a year.
Photo: DA Nelson Mandela Bay
Daily Maverick reporting exposed the real cause of Nelson Mandela Bay's water shortages — a 4,700km network of failing pipes, not drought — and prompted the municipality to begin advertising for plumbers.
- Water lost
- A record 60.39% of the city's water lost before it reaches a tap
- Pipe network
- 4,700km of pipes, most over 40 years old, with only 40km upgraded
- Workforce gap
- 38% staff vacancy rate and a leak backlog that jumped from 4,000 to over 6,700 in a single month
- Capital paralysis
- Only 16% of the capital budget spent; a R700-million wellfield investment failing to reach targets
- Direct outcome
- Municipality has begun advertising for plumbers — the first step in fixing the crisis
The arithmetic of neglect
Pipes upgraded40km of 4,700km
Leak backlog (one month)4,000 → 6,700
The issue
In early 2026, an investigation revealed a catastrophic water management failure putting the metro at risk of being uninvestable due to a lack of water security. Water shortages had been blamed on drought, but the reality was that the city was losing 60% of its water to the ground. Water losses had hit a record 60.39% due to a 4,700km network of pipes — most over 40 years old — that urgently needed replacement. To date, only 40km had been upgraded. A 38% staff vacancy rate and a backlog of 4,000 leaks had caused response times to balloon to 10 days against a standard of three.
A lack of technical skill was paralysing repairs: the city could not fix the leaks because it did not have the engineers to lead long-term solutions. The leak backlog jumped from 4,000 to over 6,700 in just one month. High-cost water projects were being rendered useless by crime and neglect — a R46-million borehole project at St George's Park suffered rampant theft and vandalism, symptomatic of a broader R700-million wellfield investment failing to reach targets. Only 16% of the capital budget had been spent due to supply chain delays and a lack of qualified decision-makers in bid committees.
What Daily Maverick did
The Baywatch team began reporting on the water crisis in early 2026, drilling into the technical, financial and workforce failures behind the headline shortage. The investigation ran across five articles between January and March 2026, moving the narrative from "drought" to "dysfunction" — exposing the real causes — and tracking the Business Chamber's and city's responses in real time.
The outcome
Since the bureau started covering the story, the municipality has finally started advertising for plumbers. This is a first step in the long road to fixing the metro's water crisis.
Status
Active investigationThe bureau continues to track recruitment progress, capital budget spend, pipe upgrades and the response to the R700-million wellfield investment.
