​Gauteng's cancer care services has received a major boost after the opening of the Breast Health Clinic at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital  (CMJAH) which will significantly enhance patient care by improving early detection and treatment of breast cancer, which is critical in saving lives.
The newly opened clinic will be equipped with cutting-edge artificial intelligence powered Ultra Sound machine which will expedite the diagnosis of breast cancer. This will complement the hospital's existing breast unit and advanced Mammogram Unit which is one of the best in the country. 
MEC for Health and Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said that the opening of the Clinic is the Gauteng Department of Health's (GDoH) commitment to ensuring that patients have access to the care they deserve. 
"To every patient, every fighter, and every survivor, we want you to know that you are not alone. We stand with you. We will continue investing in better treatment, faster diagnosis, and world-class facilities to give you the best possible care. We will not rest until we have closed the care gap and strengthened cancer treatment services across Gauteng," said the MEC. 
The realisation of the clinic is in partnership with Novartis South Africa and other donors, and its opening coincided with the World Cancer Day commemorations (04 February) and is aligned to the 2025 theme of "United by Unique", which emphasises the collective commitment against cancer.
Prof. Jenny Edge, Head of the Breast and Endocrine Unit at CMJAH said that the main purpose of opening the clinic is to develop more space to deliver more individual clinical care, have a better space for managing and teaching students, and a research space. 
"The new clinic will allow the us to spread our clinical load into receiving more care for more than one day in a week at the outpatient department which is currently on Fridays. It will also allow us, with the introduction of electronic referral patterns, to move further away from a walk-in open clinic, to grouping common patients together," said Edge. 
While acknowledging the backlog in oncology treatment, the MEC added that the GDoH has taken decisive actions to strengthen cancer treatment. This includes the implementation of a once-off outsourcing intervention to bring on board six private healthcare providers to assist in clearing the oncology backlog. Currently, over 90 patients are at various stages of treatment in some of these facilities.
At Charlotte Maxeke bold steps are being taken to expand and improve oncology services. CMJAH as the largest radiation oncology unit in the country, has implemented remote radiotherapy planning, a critical innovation that speeds up the treatment process. Additionally, in April of this year, we will introduce two new state-of-the-art linear accelerators to further enhance treatment capacity at this facility. These developments mean more patients will be treated faster and with the highest standards of care.
While CMJAH continues to expand its internal capacity, though partnership with private healthcare providers the facility will be able to treat 600 additional patients this year, significantly reducing waiting times. With these efforts, CMJAH's radiotherapy waiting list will soon be eliminated. Cancer should not mean waiting in uncertainty—our patients deserve immediate, high-quality care.
"We have also begun construction to expand radiation oncology services in the province by increasing the number of radiation oncology centers from two to four. Currently, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital serve as the only radiation centers. At the end of this year two additional centers at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital will be completed," affirmed MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko.
In addition, the GDoH is capacitating existing oncology centers with additional resources and medical equipment to improve efficiency and reduce treatment delays.