Backing a mother and child through the realities of childhood cancer
At just five years old, Letlotlo was facing a battle no child should have to fight. Diagnosed with lymphoma, he began a demanding six-month treatment programme at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital — a journey that would require strength, resilience, and constant care.
For his mother, Clementine, the diagnosis threatened to undo years of hard-won progress. A top-performing electrical engineering student with eight distinctions to her name, she was in the final stretch of her apprenticeship — the last step before qualifying as an artisan and securing permanent work. Then everything changed.
“I had worked so hard to build a stable life for my son — and suddenly, I didn’t know how we were going to get through each day,” Clementine recalls.
Living at the hospital to care for Letlotlo full-time meant daily transport costs she simply couldn’t afford. At the same time, Letlotlo’s treatment left him nauseous and vulnerable, with specific nutritional needs the hospital couldn’t always meet.
That’s where Hot Cares stepped in.
With support from Silverstar Pays It Forward, Hot Cares ensured Clementine could continue travelling to her apprenticeship — and that Letlotlo received the nutrition his body needed to cope with treatment. For six critical months, the pressure eased, allowing Clementine to focus on what mattered most: her son’s recovery.
“Knowing we didn’t have to worry about transport or food changed everything,” she says. “It gave me the strength to keep going.”
This story is shared on World Cancer Day, marked annually on 4 February, a global moment to raise awareness about cancer and the realities faced by patients and families worldwide. Childhood cancer remains one of the leading causes of disease-related death among children, with an estimated 400 000 children and adolescents diagnosed each year globally.
In South Africa, many families face additional challenges beyond treatment itself — including transport, nutrition and lost income — which can directly affect a child’s ability to cope with care.
By stepping in with practical, targeted support for Clementine and Letlotlo, Hot Cares is helping to ease those pressures, ensuring that care is not only about treatment, but about dignity, stability and the chance for a better outcome.