A community clinic just north of Johannesburg has become the center of a growing controversy over whether foreigners should have access to South Africa’s public health facilities.
What began as a small local action in 2022 has now spread across parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, with members of the anti-migrant group Operation Dudula stationed at hospital gates, checking identification cards and turning away anyone who is not South African.
The group, whose name “Dudula” means “to force out” in Zulu, has been accused of using intimidation and violence in the past. Despite several arrests, the authorities have struggled to stop their pickets.
In Diepsloot, a township of more than 200,000 people near Johannesburg, foreign nationals say they have been denied access to healthcare. Zimbabwean resident Sicelokuhle Moyo, who has lived in South Africa since 2006, was refused entry to a local clinic because she only had a passport.
“They said they don’t take passports, only IDs,” she said. “I just had to turn back.”
Others like Tendai Musvava from Mozambique share similar experiences. “I can’t get my medication because I don’t have a South African ID,” she lamented.
South Africa is home to about 2.4 million migrants, mostly from neighboring countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Although the country’s constitution guarantees healthcare for everyone, regardless of nationality, Operation Dudula insists that South Africans must come first.
Party leader Zandile Dabula defended the group’s actions, saying: “Health cannot be a freebie for everyone. We cannot cater for the whole globe. We don’t have enough.”
Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla, however, condemned the campaign, saying that “health is a human right” and that “you don’t organize it through bullying kind of methods.”
Several political parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters and the Democratic Alliance, have also spoken against Operation Dudula.
Despite arrests and public criticism, the group continues its campaign and is reportedly extending its activities to public schools, arguing that it is part of a broader fight against illegal immigration.
Meanwhile, many migrants in Diepsloot remain stranded without access to medical care. “I don’t have money, but I will have to make a plan,” said Musvava, who now plans to seek help from private clinics despite her financial struggles.
