“We are raising awareness on the problems our country is facing. Our healthcare facilities are deteriorating because of the influx of foreigners who come into our facilities,” the report quoted Operation Dudula Joburg chairperson, Siphiwe Shabalala as saying.
“We are tired. Our people are not getting the right services because of these foreigners. As South Africans, we don’t owe them. We are not xenophobic but time is up, they must go back to their countries,” Shabalala said.
Although services at the Hillbrow clinic were not disrupted, Gauteng health department spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba cautioned the public against obstructing access to healthcare services, adding that they will not hesitate to call law enforcement against those who did so, the report said.
Meanwhile, according to Kalafong hospital CEO, Sello Matjila, law enforcement agencies remained on high alert after suspected Operation Dudula members prevented foreign nationals from entering the hospital, as they believed they contributed to the drain on resources at public healthcare centres, reported EWN.
The report said a court interdict was issued to prevent the protest outside the hospital but staff and patients remained fearful.
“We have resorted not to engage them because we are also fearful because this kind of protest can take any form,” the report quoted Matjila as saying.
The issue of the South African healthcare system being flooded by foreign nationals was put in the limelight after a video of Limpopo Health MEC, Dr Phophi Ramathuba addressing an undocumented Zimbabwe woman at a Bela Bela hospital went viral.
In the video, Ramathuba was heard telling the patient that her country, Zimbabwe, should take responsibility for health care, not South Africa and that Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa was not contributing to Limpopo’s health budget.
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