South Africa’s Healthcare Woes Highlighted by Free Medical Train

For three decades, the Phelophepa train has been a lifeline for thousands of South Africans, providing free medical attention to those living in remote communities. The train’s 30-year journey has seen it grow from a single three-carriage operation to two 16-carriage trains, carrying health professionals, managers, translators, and security staff. Today, it stopped in Tembisa, a township east of Johannesburg, where patients lined up for medical care.

Thabang, a patient, expressed his gratitude, saying, “I’ve been suffering a lot from my eyesight. I heard that it is a train coming here, coming to assist people. So they take like, 150 people per day and come assist them tomorrow. So some of them and some of us we sleep here because we live far.” The train’s services are a stark contrast to South Africa’s overstretched public health care system, where about 84% of people rely on it. The country’s deep inequality is reflected in healthcare, with only 16% of South Africans covered by health insurance plans.

The Phelophepa train began in 1994, initially focusing on eye care, but soon expanded to address the greater needs of the community. Today, it addresses the booming population of Pretoria and nearby Johannesburg, the country’s economic hub. However, the traveling clinic is far from a solution to South Africa’s healthcare problems. Public health expert Alex van den Heever notes that while there have been increases in the healthcare budget and public sector employment of nurses and doctors since the country’s first democratic government in 1994, the state of the public sector remains a concern.

For South Africans like Thethiwe Mahlangu, who visited the clinic to get her eyes checked and have a pap smear, the train’s services are a relief. She said, “This train is helpful to us. It truly, truly, truly helps. All I ask is that it doesn’t end here, today. They must come back again and help us even if it’s next year. There are so many of us out there who are really sick.” Despite the challenges faced by the healthcare system, the Phelophepa train remains a beacon of hope for those in need.