By 23 August 2026, 3,641 people had started lenacapavir — a six-monthly injectable HIV prevention drug — across 22 government clinics in the Western Cape, part of a national rollout that reached 47,934 initiations across six provinces. The figures, confirmed by the National Department of Health and reported by Daily Maverick on 2 September 2026, mark significant progress for the province’s phased introduction of the long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) option.
The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness began its first rollout phase on 8 June 2026, targeting 22 public health facilities in high-HIV-burden communities across the Cape Metro. Between 8 June and 24 July 2026, healthcare workers administered 2,339 lenacapavir injections at those facilities, according to a provincial government statement.
Provincial data shows that 2,049 of those early recipients — 87.6% — had never previously taken oral PrEP, meaning the injectable option is drawing people into prevention who had not engaged with daily pills. Western Cape Provincial Minister of Health and Wellness Mireille Wenger called the early uptake figures encouraging, particularly the proportion of first-time PrEP users.
What is particularly encouraging about these early results is that almost 88% of people receiving lenacapavir are new to PrEP,
Wenger said in the provincial statement. National Department of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale provided the updated 23 August figures to Daily Maverick, confirming continued growth in the weeks following the province’s initial reporting window.
As of 23 August, there have been 3,641 initiations of lenacapavir, or LEN for short, across the 22 government clinics in the province that are offering the injection,
Mohale told Daily Maverick. The national rollout is under way at 360 health facilities across six provinces, with the Free State, Limpopo, and Northern Cape not yet included.
The first batch of 37,920 lenacapavir doses arrived in South Africa on 7 April 2026, according to a national Department of Health statement on GOV.ZA. The drug offers an alternative to daily oral PrEP, which has faced adherence challenges in communities where pill fatigue and stigma remain barriers to consistent use.
The Western Cape’s targeted approach — concentrating on metro communities with the highest HIV burden — appears to be generating demand among people who previously opted out of prevention altogether. Whether the rollout will expand to additional facilities or provinces in its next phase has not yet been announced.
What remains unconfirmed is whether the Western Cape has received additional lenacapavir doses beyond the initial national allocation, and whether the province plans to widen the programme beyond the current 22 sites. Cape Flats News will check with the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness for updated figures by end of September 2026.