Article by Amy Green ~

Almost exactly three weeks ago, women attending a Cape Town reproductive clinic found themselves running an unexpected gauntlet. Instead of walking through the doors and waiting in line with appointment cards, women requiring contraception, advice - and some seeking to terminate a pregnancy - had to make their way through a crowd of angry protectors holding placards and Bibles. At the the sight of  a nurse appearing from inside the crowd became more animated, "Murderer!" they shouted in unison. 

"It was terrible," said Brenda Bamuza-Mayundla, one of the nurses on duty at the semiprivate Marie Stopes clinic that day. 

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Article by Ayanda Mkhwanazi ~

The media is full of reports of teenagers indiscriminately having sex and even going as far as filming it. This has led to a public outcry. But what makes young people to engage in risky behaviour? Ayanda Yeni of Health-e News Service visited a school in Brits, in the North West province, where teen pregnancy is rife.

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Article by Tanya Farber ~

Capetown - A barrage of of adverts pasted inside train carriages and other public spaces has raised alarm over the brazen provision of illegal abortions - even of pregnancies of up to eight months.  

One "service provider", who pasted a sticker inside a Metrorail  carriage, promised women a 15-minute abortion for any foetus form "one week to eight months". 

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Article by Tholakele Mnganga ~

She'll never forget the day it happened. A couple were there to see her, she was told and she went out to meet them. When she saw the pair, she presumed the young woman had come for a check-up - she'd had an abortion a few days earlier and Brenda Bamuza had performed the procedure. Her patient's partner seemed upset, she recalls, and when she asked him what was wrong he spat out, "Sister, you killed my child!"

Those were the last words she heard before the man attacked her, beating her so badly she spent nine months in hospital. 

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Podcast Hosted by Veronica Mokhoali & Siyabonga Ntuli  ~

There is an increasing number of illegal backstreet abortion, despite the termination or pregnancy being legal in South Africa. Dr. Malusi Dlamini and Zwanaka Netshifulani (Wits Gender Equity Office) discuss the concerns surrounding reproduction and women having the right to freedom to have control over their bodies. Brenda Bamuza and Whitney Chilokwna from Marie Stopes talk about the challenges they face in healthcare and fighting the stigma in communities. 

concerns surrounding reproduction and women having the right to freedom to have control over their bodies. Brenda Bamuza and Whitney Chilokwna from Marie Stopes talk about the challenges they face in healthcare and fighting the stigma in the communities.

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Article by Eyewitness News ~

Two men, one claiming to be a medical student, the other a doctor at a state hospital, were arrested on Friday night following the Eyewitness News investigation. One man claimed to operate a network of government employed gynaecologists and nurses at state hospitals, none of which was true.

Eyewitness News found several abortion agents willing to do an illegal procedure on a six and a half month pregnant woman. A man, known only as Gift, offered to provide tablets, crudely explaining how they would do the job. Eyewitness News alerted the police and the suave salesman was arrested.

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The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 [No. 92 of 1996] is meant to determine the circumstances in which and conditions under which the pregnancy of a woman may be terminated; and to provide for matters connected herewith.

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