A 37-week pregnant woman was denied care in Kalafong Hospital in Tshwane on Thursday as anti-foreigner protests outside the hospital prevented patients, based on their appearance and accents, from seeking treatment.
The woman, who has high blood pressure, had to seek help at a local clinic, which is not set up to treat complex cases requiring a specialist.
Doctors without Borders (MSF) on Thursday condemned the three week old protest outside the hospital organised by Operation Dudula and called for “urgent action” by health authorities and leaders to protect access to healthcare for all.
MSF warned against politicising healthcare days after Limpopo MEC of Health Dr Phophi Ramathuba, berated a bedridden Zimbabwean patient and claimed that foreigners are overburdening the health system. The rant went viral and sparked an uproar on social media.
The Dudula protestors outside Kalafong have been chanting threatening statements through loud hailers and preventing many from entering the facility, MSF said in the statement.
Sibusiso Ndlovu, health promotion supervisor for MSF in Tshwane, said on Thursday: “Just this morning, several people were turned away by protestors based on their appearance and accent.
“They have even demanded that critically ill patients who are migrants must be ‘unplugged’ and taken out,” she said.
Puleng Tau, the chairperson of Operation Dudula in Atteridgeville, was quoted as saying that this was only the beginning of a series of protests in Tshwane metro.
“We are sick and tired of these foreigners. They must all go. They are taking medication and bed space in government hospitals, which are meant to provide for South Africans and we are saying ‘enough,” Tau said.
Dr Tasanya Chinsamy, medical activity manager for MSF in Tshwane, said that if migrants feared their safety in entering or leaving health facilities, and if health workers are placed under pressure to behave as immigration officers, the consequences will be felt across the population.
“One major concern as the politicisation of healthcare expands is that serious notifiable diseases could go unrecorded and untreated, which will inhibit the public healthcare system’s overall capacity and ability to contain infectious disease outbreaks,” she said.
MSF said there was an increasing trend in Gauteng whereby migrants are being denied access to services by medical staff.
MSF said it has recorded several cases where migrants with a legitimate right of access to health have been denied care. Many of these instances involve access to maternal and child health, which is guaranteed under South Africa’s constitution and through various laws and healthcare policies.
Image source:@RekordNewspaper
