CIVIL SOCIETY WATCH 29 APRIL — 3 MAY
This week — Cancer patients march for treatment, critical role of grandmothers and Workers’ Day
An interactive seminar to examine the role of grandmothers as agents for change in health outcomes and community development, cancer organisations and patients demand action to address the backlog in treatment, and report launch of the registers of councillors’ interests.
On Monday, 29 April, at 2pm, the South African Medical Research Council and goGOGOgo will have an interactive seminar to examine the role of grandmothers as agents for change in health outcomes and community development.
Dr Judi Aubel will present her research findings on grandmothers and their role across the life cycle of women, children, and adolescents based on 30 years of research in Africa.
“Following her presentation, we will discuss developing a research agenda and opportunities to look at the role of grandmothers in supporting community health outcomes and development in the South African context,” read the event poster.
The seminar will take place at the South African Medical Research Council in Pretoria and virtually via Teams.
Cancer Alliance and its partners Section27 and the Treatment Action Campaign held a protest at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and delivered a memorandum outlining their concerns. 23 November 2021. (Photo: Section27 and Cancer Alliance / Spotlight)
On Tuesday, 30 April, Section27, Cancer Alliance, Treatment Action Campaign, and patients waiting for cancer treatment will march to the Gauteng Department of Health.
“We are demanding that the Gauteng Department of Health spend the R784-million set aside by the Gauteng Treasury in March 2023 to outsource radiation oncology services for over 3,000 patients who are currently on the backlog list. Many of the patients on the backlog list have been waiting for these services for years, a delay that the GDoH has attributed to a lack of funding and resources. Tragically, some patients have passed on while waiting for the department to act. Despite the availability of funds made available by Gauteng Treasury in 2023, the GDoH has still failed to provide life-saving treatment to cancer patients for over a year,” read the press statement.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Gauteng Health’s silence on R784m oncology backlog tender is worrying – Cancer Alliance
The starting point for the march will be Library Gardens (opposite the Gauteng Legislature) and the endpoint will be Gauteng Department of Health, 75 Fox Str, Marshalltown to 45 Commissioner Street.
For more information contact:
Section27: Pearl Nicodemus | [email protected] | 082 298 2636
Cancer Alliance: Salome Meyer | [email protected] | 079 483 3175
TAC: Ngqabutho Mpofu | [email protected] | 072 225 9675
Also on Tuesday, the Dullah Omar Institute will host a webinar on the report launch of the registers of councillors’ interests.
“The Dullah Omar Institute conducted a study which examined the state of transparency in local government in relation to the publication of registers of councillors’ interests. This is against the background that the law requires councillors to declare their financial interests within 60 days of assuming office and for each councillor to update the municipal manager every time there is a change in his or her interests. Further, the municipal council must decide which components of the declarations of interests should be made accessible to the public. The key question is: are municipalities publishing registers of councillors’ interests?”
Register here
Wednesday, 1 May, is Workers Day
Originally born from the protracted struggle for workers’ rights and social justice of the late 1800s, Workers’ Day has been an international holiday in many countries since 1891.
“Workers’ Day has been officially recognised and observed since the first democratic elections in 1994. The holiday serves both as a celebration of workers’ rights and as a reminder of the critical role that trade unions, the Communist Party, and other labour organisations played in the fight against Apartheid,” according to the Presidency.
On Thursday, 2 May at 10am, The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria will host a webinar on youth engagement and elections in South Africa.
“Participation in elections is a key tenet in a democracy. South Africa will hold its seventh general election since the end of apartheid on 29 May 2024. A 2019 report on the national and provincial elections by the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has shown a continuous decline in youth participation in elections. This downward trend has been consistent with global voter trends since the 1990s. However, there is a need to intervene to reverse this trajectory. Consequently, the IEC in its 2019 report called for the combined efforts of all the relevant stakeholders to tackle political apathy among the youth and find ways of bringing young people into the democratic space. Towards this end, the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria is holding a webinar on youth participation in South Africa’s elections,” read the event description.
Read more in Daily Maverick: 2024 elections hub
The webinar will be moderated by Razan Haroun and Nicholas Cheruiyot, LLM/HRDA candidates at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Register here
On Friday, 3 May at 1pm, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) will host a talk on mental health in the workplace.
Watch the live discussion here. DM
My greatest sadness in regard to cancer is that one reads only about treatment; nary a word about prevention being better than a cure.
Did you ever read that one true whole grain each day gives nearly 50% protection against breast cancer? Because of the lignans that are extracted by millers in producing mealiemeal and bread flour.
Was it ever shouted from the rooftops that a tomato a day also gives 50% protection against prostate cancer; the most prevalent non-skin male cancer; that’s because of the lycopenes.
It is true that there are occasionally articles on fibre and how it feeds the microbiome and protects against colorectal cancer.
When did you last read about the role of sugar, refined carbs and seed oils in Fatty Pancreas, the precursor to pancreatic cancer?
It’s all about treatment. The cynic in me asks if it’s because there’s no money to be made in prevention? Just imagine how many oncologists would be out of work if we simply started eating bread made with 100% wholegrain flour, very hard to get, I’ll admit, refused to eat super number one refined mealie meal, strictly curtailed sugar and cake flour and insisted on a tomato a day.