Celebrating the Re-Launch of South Africa’s National TB Caucus

On 28 October 2025, South Africa’s Parliament, together with the National Department of Health and the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), relaunched the South African TB Caucus in Cape Town. Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza led the relaunch in the 7th Administration. For TB-affected communities and the civil society leaders who have long pushed for stronger political accountability, this is a milestone worth celebrating.

Why the caucus matters

TB remains South Africa’s leading cause of death, claiming around 56,000 lives each year. South Africa is one of the 30 highest TB burden countries in the world, and an estimated 54% of people with TB are also living with HIV. Yet TB is preventable and curable.

The caucus is the South African chapter of the Global TB Caucus, a non-partisan network of parliamentarians. It gives Members of Parliament a platform to drive political action on TB and to hold government accountable for the commitments it has made. It was first established in 2018.

At the relaunch, Minister Motsoaledi acknowledged that it had faded from view since then, and he asked MPs to keep it alive this time. He described it as a bridge between political leadership, the health sector and communities. The relaunch coincided with a National Assembly debate on the status of TB in South Africa, and parliamentarians signed the Barcelona Declaration, the pledge that established the Global TB Caucus. Parliamentarians from Zambia and Lesotho also shared messages of support, a reminder that TB is a regional fight.

Working behind the scenes

WACI Health is proud to have contributed to making the relaunch happen. Working with the SANAC Civil Society Forum TB Task Team, we engaged the SANAC Secretariat and the Department of Health to make the relaunch a priority. We also supported civil society leaders from North West, Gauteng and Eastern Cape to engage their provincial governments and take part in the launch.

WACI Health works to put TB-affected communities at the centre of the TB response and hold governments to the commitments they have made. Building national and provincial TB caucuses is a core part of that effort.

What comes next

Momentum is already building at provincial level, with caucuses being established in North West, Gauteng and Eastern Cape, and the National TB Caucus now aims to launch a fourth provincial caucus in the Western Cape.

A caucus only matters if it acts. The test now is whether parliamentarians use it to push for funded, community-centred TB services. We will keep working with communities and civil society to help make that happen.

Watch and find out more

• Read the SANAC media advisory: https://sanac.org.za/277452-2/
• Watch SABC News coverage of the relaunch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPBfybYkZCY