In March, the Cancer Alliance secured an order against Gauteng Health to provide radiation services to cancer patients on the backlog list.
The Gauteng High Court has overturned a previous ruling ordering the Gauteng Health Department to take “all steps necessary” to provide radiation oncology services to patients on the backlog list for cancer treatment, and the order was immediately enforceable pending an appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
Ruling
The ruling, delivered on Friday, 05 December 2025, sets aside the earlier order issued by Judge Fiona Dippenaar on 27 March 2025, which found in favour of the Cancer Alliance.
“While this court has empathy for the concerned patients and fully understands that anyone facing death must urgently obtain and access the required medical treatment in terms of Section 27 of the Constitution, there is, however, in our view, insufficient evidence supporting the Cancer Alliance’s argument that the department is dragging their feet in implementing their constitutional obligations,” a full bench of the High Court ruled.
“There is, to the contrary, overwhelming evidence that the waiting list has been reduced.”
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March ruling
In the March ruling, the court declared the province’s health department’s failure to provide radiation and oncology services to cancer patients “unlawful and unconstitutional”.
The Gauteng High Court said the cancer patients do not have the “luxury of time” handing down a ruling that the Gauteng Health Department has to abide by a previous order relating to the provision of radiation oncology services.
It ordered the Gauteng Health Department to take “all steps necessary” to provide radiation oncology services to patients on the backlog list for treatment at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
Progress reports
The court ordered the department to submit various progress reports within three months. After the judgment, the department filed an application for leave to appeal the decision.
The Court made it clear that Acting Justice Stephen van Nieuwenhuizen’s judgment and order, handed down on March 27, 2025, will not be suspended until the SCA decision on the respondents’ appeal against the judgment and order, as well as the outcome of any appeal that may be launched in the Constitutional Court.
The Cancer Alliance secured an order that the relevant sections of the March judgment were not suspended. But this decision was overturned on appeal.
ALSO READ: Court grants Gauteng Health’s appeal in the cancer treatment backlog case
Gauteng health
The Gauteng Health Department welcomed the ruling.
“The Department remains committed to improving oncology services. Access to these services is a critical priority, and efforts to improve turnaround times and reduce waiting lists are ongoing.
“Collaborative measures are in place with national and provincial Treasury structures to secure adequate resources for oncology services,” the department said.
Clinical and operational plan
The department further said the clinical and operational plan for improving these services is currently being implemented at both Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital.
“This judgment reinforces the Department’s stance on respecting proper appellate processes and maintaining executive authority over public health services. The Department is committed to providing equitable, safe and constitutionally compliant cancer treatment services, including improving systemic gaps to shorten waiting periods for oncology care.”
Court battle
The Cancer Alliance, represented by advocacy group Section 27, filed an application in the High Court in Johannesburg against the Gauteng health department, alleging that it failed to spend R784 million allocated by the Gauteng Treasury in 2023.
The radiation and other surgical backlogs showed that about 3 000 cancer patients were awaiting cancer treatment, some for more than three years.
ALSO READ: Court orders Gauteng Health to clear radiation oncology backlog at public hospitals
