The Cancer Alliance and Section27 have welcomed the Supreme Court order delivered by the South Gauteng High Court in relation to the Gauteng Health Department’s (GDoH) decision to update the cancer backlog list, which has ensured that patients get treatment in public or private facilities.

Salomé Meyer, of the Cancer Alliance said that the court’s order was immediately enforceable.

“We argued that exceptional circumstances exist in this case in that this is a matter of life and death for cancer patients who will suffer irreparable harm if the order is not immediately enforced.

“We also argued that providing radiation oncology services to patients who meet the criteria for the treatment is a Constitutional obligation of GDoH.  The respondents challenged this, but the judgment confirms Cancer Alliance and Section27’s position and makes it clear that government cannot delay its constitutional duties while patients’ lives hang in the balance,” she said.

The advocacy groups sued the department for allegedly violating patients’ constitutional rights to healthcare.

The alliance approached the South Gauteng High Court urgently on 5 August 2025, saying the purpose of the application was to request that the court order of 27 March 2025, which was granted in favour of Cancer Alliance, be made immediately enforceable and not suspended by the pending appeal proceedings instituted by the Gauteng MEC for Health and the Gauteng Department of Health.

Acting Judge Nicole Janse Van Niewenhuizen declared that the GDoH’s failure to develop and implement a plan to address the oncology backlog was unlawful, unconstitutional, and in breach of various sections of the Constitution.

Judge Van Niewenhuizen ordered the respondents to update and maintain the backlog list of cancer patients awaiting radiation oncology services in Gauteng within 45 days of the court’s order.

Reacting to this, DA shadow MEC Jack Bloom stated: “The order is a devastating indictment against the department, including a personal costs order against the MEC, Head of Department, and the CEOs of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg and Steve Biko hospitals.

As a result, Bloom said the party is now calling for the removal of Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko for the alleged scandalous non-treatment of cancer patients, leading to massive suffering and lives lost.

“The court has ordered them to provide details of the backlog, which at one stage was about 3000, but many patients can no longer get radiation treatment as it is too late to be of value to them. The department needs to work with cancer NGOs to ensure urgent cancer treatment, including private providers, as there is the budget for this,” Bloom said.

Gauteng health spokesperson, Motaletale Modiba, indicated that in light of the recent judgment, the department is still committed to providing accessible healthcare to Gauteng residents.

“The Department has continued, and will continue, to provide radiation oncology services to all patients who are clinically eligible, regardless of the legal challenges that are before the courts.

“We must also outrightly indicate that there is a process of providing cancer treatment that incorporates other modalities that cancer patients go through. These include surgical intervention, medical oncology – where we use medication for treatment, hormonal therapy, and palliative care, which we continue to offer, informed by clinical needs,” he said.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za

Source link