A community clinic north of Johannesburg has become a rallying cry for South Africa over whether foreigners can access public health facilities.
What started as a small local action in one place in 2022 has spread, with activists from the anti-migration group, Operation Dudula, capturing provinces and hospitals in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal. They check identity cards and stop anyone who is not from South Africa from entering.
“Dudula” means to remove something by force in the Zulu language.
Despite some arrests, the authorities seem unable to crack down on the packs.
The location of their latest campaign is in dieplsoot – a poor township of over 200,000 people near the Hub of the country.
On a cool, spring Thursday, Sicelohle Moyo, wearing a blue and beige skirt, a black windbreaker and a black headwrap, was placed early in the clinic.
The Zimbabwean, who has lived in South Africa since 2006, went there, as he often did, to collect his medicine for a chronic condition.
But this time, when he got to the gate, things were different.
“I said I have a passport. They said, they don’t take passports. They only want IDs” “, source: Source: Source: Source: Ikhanda
Two men wearing white T-shirts with the Slogan “Operation Dudula – deportation of people stopped at the door. They want everyone to produce their documents before they are allowed inside.
“I said I have a passport. They said, they don’t take passports. They only want IDs,” said Ms Moyo, hiding her concern behind a polite smile.
Despite this being a potential flashpoint, there was an unusual calm and resignation as people knew that Operation Dudula activists had been violent in the past.
Anyone who cannot produce a South African identity card is turned away.
Slowly from the door, Ms Moyo joined a group of women on the side of the road, small children strapped to their backs, waiting for the uncertainty of what will happen next.
Tendai Musvava, a woman in her 40s, met the same fate.
“I was standing in line and he said, see [only] need other people with IDs. Me, I don’t have an id. I have a passport, I am from Mozambique. So, I can’t get my medicine because I don’t have an ID,” he said.
Ms Musvava, wearing a bright winter jumper and a white hat, looked downcast.
“I feel like they are doing what they want because it is their country. I have no say. Because now I have to follow whatever they say. I have no choice.”
South Africa is home to almost 2.4 million migrants, less than 4% of the population, according to official figures. Most come from neighboring countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, which have a history of offering migrants to their wealthy neighbour.
Xenophobia has long been a problem in South Africa with occasional outbreaks of deadly violence, and anti-aggression sentiment has become a political point.
Having started as a campaign, Operation Dudula, which has, at times, been accused of using force to make a point, has now become a political party with ambitions to contest next year’s local government elections.
Group leader Zandile Dabula insists that what his organization is doing in public clinics in Johannesburg and other parts of the country is appropriate.
“We want to put the people of South Africa first. Urgent care – We understand you have to be treated – but if you are illegal you should be given to law enforcement,” he told the BBC.
“Life can’t be a freebie for everyone. We can’t take care of the whole world. We don’t have it” source: source:
When challenged that many immigrants are in the country legally, he argues that South Africans need to be prioritized because there are few resources.
“Life comes first, we don’t dispute that, but it’s not going to be a freebie for everyone. We can’t take care of the whole world. We don’t have enough.”
The Constitution guarantees the right of access to health care for everyone in the country, regardless of nationality or immigration status.
But Ms Dabula says the public health system, which covers about 85% of the population, is overcrowded.
He says that some people have to wake up at 04:00 and join the long queues at their local clinic because they know that if they don’t arrive on time, it won’t be there on time, there won’t be any medicine left.
South Africa is a highly unequal society, with much of the country’s wealth held in the hands of a few. Unemployment and poverty rates are high and migrants, who often live in poor communities, are blamed by some for the problems people find themselves in.
The methods of Operation Dudula have received a sympathetic response among some residents of the deepsloot.
One of them, South African Sipho Mohale, described the Operation Dudula campaign as “a positive change”.
“Last time I was here, the line was very long. But this time, it only took me a few minutes to get my things and get out,” she said.
Another resident, Jennifer Shingange, also welcomed the presence of activists in Diepsloot.
“As an old South African, we would come to the clinic, only to find that the medicine we need is not available. But as it turns out, people from other countries are using the clinic,” he said.
It is surprising that some South Africans have not been spared from the anti-immigration campaign.
They have also turned to public health centers because they cannot produce an identity document – more than 10% of South Africans are thought not to have the right documents to prove their citizenship.
But it is the constitutional maturity in carrying out Operation Dudula that Anger activists on the other side of the conflict are doing.
“Having a group that is not allowed by the state to make decisions about who goes in and out is very serious,” said Fatama Hassan, a human rights lawyer from the Health Justice Masubo Justitive organization.
“Unless the government gets a handle on this situation soon, it will lose its power to make law and order itself.”
“Life is a human right … you don’t organize it in the form of exploitative methods” “, source Dr Phaahla, Source Description: Deputy Minister of Health, photo: Head and shoulders shot by Dr Joe Phaahla.
Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla told the BBC that his government is against targeting foreigners or anyone else trying to use local clinics.
“We do not agree with that period because health is a human right. Much as we understand the fact that the provision of services must be properly planned,” he told the BBC.
Several major political parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters and the Democratic Alliance, also condemned Operation Dudula.
But a recent attempt to take it to court by the South African Human Rights Commission failed at the top, effectively allowing the group to continue its campaign.
Several members working in Dudula were arrested in recent weeks to block the installation of public health facilities. They were later released with a warning. The police action, however, does not seem to have stopped the group.
Ms. Hassan believes that strong action is needed to say that “the police and the military should have been there on the day of the blockade [the picketing] Because that’s just “.
Dr. Phaahla said that this measure was being studied but the police said that the resources were ‘extended according to the ability to observe and intervene at the time when the incidents happened.
While the State is hesitating on what to do, Operation Dudula seems to have grown up and is paying attention to public schools, saying it is part of the campaign against illegal immigration.
But in Diepsloot, group action is leaving people without the medical help they need.
Ms Musvava, who repented, is now looking for other ways. Despite his limited resources, he is looking to go into the private sector.
“I think I’ll have to go to the doctor. I’ll pay the money. I’ll have to pray to get it,” she said.
He didn’t know how much it would cost him.
“I have no money, but I will have to make a plan.”
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