Across South Africa, health forum members have continued their work monitoring clinics, identifying systemic failures, responding to emergencies, and addressing structural barriers to healthcare in their communities. This summary reflects the extensive range of activities undertaken between April and June 2025 by eight health forums across South Africa (Kuruman, Bloemfontein, KSD, Mbashe, Witsenberg, Phokwane, Mannenberg and Gugulethu health forums), as reported by health forum leadership during an online national coordination meeting via ZOOM.
Health forums are civil society structures made up of health activists, sometimes clinic committee members and community health workers. They often referred to as informal clinic committees outside the clinic.
Clinic Monitoring and Stakeholder Engagement
Many health forums conducted direct clinic monitoring, reporting consistent problems such as medicine stock-outs, staff shortages, misfiled patient documents, broken infrastructure, and non-functional clinic boards. In the Daniel Mutant Clinic, for example, community monitors reported long wait times due to limited staff and missing files. Despite these issues, forum members engaged constructively with clinic managers and health officials to address deficiencies. One clinic was provided with equipment for clearing overgrown grass after sustained pressure from the forum.
Health forum members in multiple provinces held meetings with district and municipal officials. In Northern Cape, members secured an upcoming appointment with the district manager following earlier delays. Forums in Manenberg and Gugulethu continued regular engagements with clinic management, monitoring service delivery and patient complaints, and raising concerns over youth alcohol abuse, TB detection gaps, and staff conduct.
Community Outreach and Advocacy
In the wake of flooding in Eastern Cape, the forum responded by coordinating with municipalities to ensure access to shelter, food, and clean water. Members of the forum whose own home was flooded and later led advocacy for improved emergency response infrastructure.
In Bloemfontein and surrounding areas, health forums monitored clinic operations across multiple neighbourhoods, identifying a lack of mobile clinic consistency and inadequate staff for the areas covered. In some cases, community health workers or clinic committee members were assisting with file management and queue control to offset resource constraints.
Forums also initiated outreach events and campaigns. In Delft, members hosted a public health talk on HIV and TB adherence, collected patient testimonies, and advocated for updates to outdated patient files. A forum in Kimberley participated in the national GBVF (Gender-Based Violence and Femicide) march and was recognized as a stakeholder in local civil society forums. In Gugulethu, members collaborated with autism care facilities during Autism Awareness Month and followed up on educational support needs for youth over 18.
One health forum focussed on ensuring children of parents addicted to alcohol can go to school. Often these kids don’t attend school due to lack of responsibility from the parents to ensure uniforms and school material. The health forum looks for second hand uniforms etc to ensure children can attend school despite their non supportive home situation.
Case Work and Individual Advocacy
Forum members handled a number of individual patient rights cases. In one incident, a child died at a clinic due to documented negligence by a nurse who failed to follow the treatment plan. The local forum intervened, engaged the hospital CEO, and initiated a formal complaint process, eventually bringing provincial health officials into the case.
In another case, a disabled teenager was still using a wheelchair issued in early childhood. Forum members approached the mayor to secure a new wheelchair. A meeting was scheduled, but the outcome is pending further updates.
In rural forums, several cases involved the lack of birth certificates for children and lack of access to medical treatment for residents without formal documentation. Forum members intervened by connecting these individuals with social workers and traditional leaders to begin processes for legal recognition and health access.
Infrastructure and Systems Accountability
Persistent issues of missing or non-functional clinic committees were flagged in multiple locations. In some cases, no committee had met in over three years. Health forums raised this with stakeholders and committed to pressuring the Department of Health to restore proper oversight mechanisms.
Forums reported poor sanitation infrastructure in many clinics, including toilets without water or broken facilities. In response to community complaints and advocacy, some of these were repaired within days of forum intervention.
Forum representatives also challenged patterns of discrimination, including a reported case involving LGBTQ+ community members being denied care. Despite repeated visits, local police failed to meet with forum representatives. Forums committed to continuing advocacy until accountability is achieved.
Collaborative Partnerships and Programmatic Work
Several forums expanded collaborative relationships with external partners. These include:
- Epilepsy South Africa (for education and outreach),
- UCT Lung Institute (for TB detection campaigns),
- SID (for organizing men’s dialogues on substance abuse and social harm),
- Local clinic committees (for coordinated service delivery),
- SAPS (for gender-based violence case monitoring and outreach),
- SAAPA (addressing alcohol use among youth),
- The Office of the Mayor (for service delivery negotiations).
- Local Chiefs (to create access in and recognition by local clinics)
- Department of Social Affairs, Home Affairs and the local councillor
Forums also participated in regional and national platforms. A forum member was selected to participate in African conference on Palliative Care in Botswana
Internal Capacity and Coordination
While some forums experienced setbacks due to leadership changes or bereavement (e.g., the Witsenberg health forum losing both a chairperson and treasurer), efforts to rebuild structures are underway. Forums without recent activity were encouraged to resume operations, and many have already begun scheduling executive meetings.
Conclusion
The work of health forums over the two months reflects a consistent pattern of grassroots accountability, service delivery pressure, and rights-based advocacy. Forums continue to fill gaps left by the formal health system, acting as both watchdogs and support structures within their communities. Their work is structured, collective, and often undocumented…