Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism

The Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism is a non-profit media group based in South Africa. Bhekisisa, meaning "to scrutinize" in the Zulu language, focuses on health coverage from a social justice perspective, utilizing narrative and solutions journalism.

The organization is recognized for its expertise in healthcare in South Africa and the broader African continent. It has been referenced by both local and international media,  academic journals    and books. Bhekisisa's articles are frequently published by South African news outlets such as the Daily Maverick, News24, the Mail & Guardian, and Financial Mail.

In 2021, the nonprofit was the first media group to receive South Africa’s prestigious Reconciliation Award from the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

History
Bhekisisa was established in 2013 as a health desk within the Mail & Guardian newspaper, under the editorial leadership of Nicholas Dawes. The initiative was founded by healthcare journalist Mia Malan.

In 2015, Bhekisisa underwent registration as a non-profit organization and received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which greatly contributed to the expansion of its reporting efforts across the African continent. In 2019, it transitioned from its association with the Mail & Guardian, becoming an independent media group.

Bhekisisa is often recognized as a notable nonprofit media organization,  particularly in the field of health reporting across Africa,  and the Global South.

COVID-19
Bhekisisa was recognised for taking the lead on COVID-19 pandemic reporting in South Africa, with many relying on it over government communications for basic information about the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccination in South Africa. Early in 2020, it partnered on a live coronavirus dashboard with the South African data journalism newsroom Media Hack Collective, collecting and interpreting unique, localized data on deaths, infections and vaccinations in Africa and South Africa.

Malan was regularly quoted by local  and international media     on COVID-19-related issues in South Africa and the region. She spoke globally about how journalists were reporting on the pandemic. Her op-ed article on the Omicron variant-related African travel ban was referenced by Fifa Rahman at the World Health Organization’s ACT Accelerator Council in December of 2021 to note the damaging effect the travel ban had on COVID-19 researchers discovering variants outside of the West. On 3 November 2022, the Bhekisisa team received one of the National Press Club's two annual merit awards for outstanding reporting for what the judges described as “fearlessly reporting the facts and science of COVID while being mercilessly trolled on social media”.

Notable reporting
In 2020, Joan van Dyk's article on the death of a child at the Lindela Repatriation Centre in Krugersdorp was a finalist in the 2020 Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards. The feature illustrated the impact of corruption at Bosasa, a South African prison facilities management group, on migrant healthcare. Her story resulted in the legal organisation ProBono moving forward with litigation.

In 2018, Pontsho Pilane’s #FreetoBleed series about the knock-on effects of costly menstruation products won the Discovery Health Journalist of the Year award. Pilane was invited to Parliament to present her findings about the lack of access to sanitary pads. In 2019, sanitary pads and other menstrual products were made tax-free by the South African government.

In 2016, Malan’s piece on rape in Diepsloot, a township north of Johannesburg, won both the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Award for feature stories and the Standard Bank Sikuvile Award for feature stories.

In 2013, Malan’s story on ulwaluko initiation ceremonies, which left some young men in Pondoland dead or disfigured from botched circumcisions, won the 2014 Standard Bank Sikuvile Award for feature stories.