Court grants Gauteng Health’s appeal in the cancer treatment backlog case

The Gauteng Department of Health has welcomed a decision by the Johannesburg High Court granting it leave to appeal a judgment relating to the provision of radiation oncology services.

In March, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg declared the province’s health department’s failure to provide radiation and oncology services to cancer patients “unlawful and unconstitutional.”

The court also 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.

Appeal

After the judgment, the department filed an application for leave to appeal the decision.

Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Motalatale Modiba said they filed a notice of application for leave to appeal on 2 April 2025.

“The decision confirms that there are substantial legal grounds warranting further judicial consideration on several critical aspects of the case.

ALSO READ: Court orders Gauteng Health to clear radiation oncology backlog at public hospitals

“The Department will now proceed with the appeal process to ensure that the issues raised in the judgment are comprehensively assessed and clarified,” Modiba said.

Cancer Alliance

The Cancer Alliance, represented by advocacy group Section 27, filed an application in the High Court in Johannesburg against the Gauteng health department for allegedly failing 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.

Judgement

In the judgment, Acting Judge Stephen van Nieuwenhuizen noted that the constitutional rights of patients on the radiation oncology backlog list had been “trampled upon” by the Gauteng Health Department.

Nieuwenhuizen said this was because the ring-fenced funds specifically intended for patients and made available in April 2023 were lost due to the department’s failure to outsource the radiation oncology service and spend such funds urgently before the annual obligation to return funds to Treasury came up.

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