Salomé Meyer, co-ordinator of the Cancer Alliance, pays tribute, in this obituary in Daily Maverick, to a brave woman who wrestled with her own health battles while fighting for the rights to treatment for thousands of others.
Thato Moncho (41) who died of cancer on 2 January, was the face and voice behind the landmark Cancer Alliance and SECTION27 court case against the Gauteng Department of Health, litigation that exposed the systemic denial of lifesaving cancer treatment to thousands of patients across Gauteng.
Diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer in 2020, Thato had her first round of chemotherapy between October 2020 and April 2021. After treatment, she was placed on the waiting list for radiation therapy at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH).
While waiting, without clarity, timelines or accountability, her cancer returned aggressively. She endured another brutal nine-week round of chemotherapy and subsequently a mastectomy.
Despite being diagnosed at stage 2 and being an excellent candidate for radiation therapy – treatment that should have begun within four months of chemotherapy – radiation never materialised.
This injustice marked the beginning of Thato’s extraordinary advocacy journey. She personally approached the MEC for Health and the CEO of CMJAH, only to be met with explanations of backlogs, understaffing, fire damage and budget constraints. She was told to “have faith”.
Her story became the story of nearly 3 000 cancer patients trapped in radiation backlogs at Charlotte Maxeke.
From the first protest march to the Gauteng Department of Health in November 2022 to the final march in April 2024, Thato stood at the forefront; unwavering, outspoken and courageous.
She publicly challenged President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene and was named a patient litigant in the case against the Gauteng Department of Health for failing to use R784m allocated to address radiation oncology backlogs. The case, initiated in November 2024, is now proceeding to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
In May 2025, Thato penned a powerful open letter to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi after his public apology for delays in cancer treatment, an apology she felt came too late. Her words cut through bureaucracy and denial, speaking directly to lived experience, pain and betrayal: “Your apology is too late for cancer patients like me… I live in fear of another recurrence, and my daughter may never get to enjoy her mother because of your arrogance. I would not have had five recurrences if the department had done its work.”
Her last public appearance was at a public symposium convened by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, held in remembrance of Babita Deokaran’s courageous fight against corruption in health. There, Thato shared her lived experience of how the health system failed her, and so many others.
Several months before her death she had decided to try to bring a civil case for damages against the MEC for Health in Gauteng and the CEO of CMJAH for negligence and failure to carry out their constitutional obligations to ensure her and others access to healthcare services.
Thato’s greatest heartbreak was that she would not live to see her daughter finish matric – her dying wish.
Fighter to the end
Born and raised in Soweto, where she lived most of her life, Thato was a fitness instructor at a corporate gym until she lost her job during Covid-19. But giving up was never in her DNA.
While undergoing treatment, she secured employment at Virgin Active Glen Vista in December 2021, where she was treated with dignity, respect and compassion until the end.
She also pursued a qualification in sports management, refusing to surrender her future to cancer. Running and boxing became her outlets for strength, resilience and emotional release.
Thato was the sole breadwinner in her family. She leaves behind her 16-year-old daughter – her shining light – and a legacy of a devoted, loving mother who fought not only for herself, but for justice for all cancer patients.
Her legacy
Thato Moncho’s life stands as a powerful indictment of injustice and an enduring call to action. She transformed personal pain into collective resistance, refusing to be silenced while thousands were denied the care they deserved. Her courage forced truth into the public domain, held power to account and reaffirmed that access to healthcare is not a privilege but a constitutional right.
Thato did not fight for sympathy. She fought for justice. She fought so that no mother would have to beg for treatment, no child would have to watch a parent deteriorate while resources lay unused, and no patient would be told to “have faith” in place of receiving care.
Though she is no longer with us, her legacy lives on; in the courtrooms she entered, the movements she strengthened, the policies she challenged and the lives she sought to protect.
We honour Thato Moncho by continuing the fight she began. May her courage guide us. May her truth compel action. May her daughter one day know that her mother changed the course of history.
Rest in power, Braveheart.
In loving memory of Thato Moncho “Braveheart” (14 February 1984-2 January 2026)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Gauteng Health drags out cancer court war
Gauteng Health ordered to treat cancer patients – immediately