The vision
A regional centre of excellence in Cape Town
Our vision is a centre where advanced cancer treatment, medical isotope production and world-class research sit side by side, next to two of South Africa's leading teaching hospitals, Groote Schuur Hospital and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. It is designed to serve the whole region, and to lead it for the next fifty years.
The plan
Two facilities, one purpose
At the heart of the initiative are two facilities that work as one: one delivers care, the other drives the science forward.
Treatment
Proton Therapy Centre
A world-class clinical facility bringing precision cancer care back to South Africa. The centre this appeal supports.
Radioisotopes & research
UCT Cyclotron
A facility producing medical isotopes and powering research, to be established as a separate enterprise.
The clinic
Built for patients, designed around children
The clinic will treat around 600 patients a year at full operation, with one of its two treatment rooms dedicated to the children who benefit most.
- Two treatment rooms, one dedicated to children
- ~600 patients a year at full operation
- Modern pencil-beam scanning and image-guided delivery
- Sited beside UCT's two teaching hospitals
Where it sits
Location is part of the design
Building the centre within the Cape Town hospital precincts places treatment, isotope production and research within reach of one another and of the clinical teams who will run them. Proximity also unlocks the use of short-lived radioisotopes, isotopes so quick to decay that they can only be used close to where they are made, opening the door to specialised imaging and research that would otherwise be impossible in South Africa.
Built to last
Not a replica of the last one
South Africa has done this before. What we are building now is deliberately different: a facility engineered for the next fifty years, not a rebuild of the last. Alongside treatment and isotope production, it will house a dedicated research capability spanning physics, engineering, space science, radiation metrology, radiobiology and neuroscience, with all the postgraduate training and skilled jobs that follow.
National priorities
Aligned with the country's own priorities
This project aligns with national policy and priorities. It is sponsored by the National Department of Higher Education and Training and recognised as a project of national and strategic significance, aligned with the National Infrastructure Plan, the National Development Plan, and the goal of universal health coverage under the NHI framework.
The road ahead
From plan to first patients
An indicative timeline toward full operation. Milestones will firm up as funding is confirmed.
2026
The case is made. Our application is before the National Treasury and the founding-partners campaign is under way.
We are here
2027
Funding confirmed; supplier and detailed design finalised.
2028
Construction and site works begin in the hospital precinct.
2029
Equipment installation and commissioning.
2030
First patients treated; the centre reaches full operation.
First patients
Indicative milestones. Target for full operation to be confirmed (2030 or 2031).
Make it possible
A centre like this isn't built by one funder alone
It is being made possible by government, by institutional backing, and by a small circle of founding partners choosing to help bring it into being.