“I’m one foot into the grave and my medication is my life,” says 77-year-old pensioner Busiziwe Gomba who was turned away from the Block X Clinic in Soshanguve, Tshwane, for three consecutive days with no chronic medication for her blood pressure.

Gomba took the 5km return trip to the clinic on those days only to be told it had run out of medication despite spending hours in the queue...