MBABANE – Some emaSwati living in South Africa were subjected to violent confrontation and harassment after activists went on the rampage, dragging foreign patients out of hospitals.
One of the public hospitals where they forcefully removed patients was the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, which is also used by emaSwati, especially those referred by Eswatini’s Phalala Fund, which receives an annual budget of approximately E179 million to pay for patients’ treatment, mostly in South Africa (SA).
“Only South African nationals, no foreigners allowed here,” shouted an SA national as he and his team walked through the hospital’s corridors.
The vigilante group, most of whom are members of the Operation Dudula organisation, say they were implementing the SA Constitution, which calls for citizens’ arrest in the event of the commission of a crime.
A liSwati migrant worker living at Mtswaledi, a township near Soweto, said she had been harassed by the group.
“I had an appointment with the doctor, as I am being treated for stomach ulcer. But these people walked in and ordered anyone who did not have a South African (SA) ID to get out of the hospital. I had to leave and I missed the appointment.
The liSwati said she had not yet acquired a South African ID, despite having worked in SA for 12 years.
“But I did not deserve the kind of treatment I was subjected to today. It was my first time to be so terrified,” she said.
Friday’s ramped-up campaigns covering most public health facilities in the Gauteng area were a defiance of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s order that such campaigns should stop, because they portrayed South Africans as inhumane. He also called for the arrest of all who continue to harass foreign nationals.
Communications Officer in the Ministry of Health Nsindiso Tsabedze said emaSwati patients who were referred to SA through the Phalala Fund are safe.
“We always ensure that we keep them in a safe environment throughout their stay in SA. Even when they go to visit shops, we also advise them to go in groups to avoid such incidents.”
Doctors Without Borders (MSF), SA office, said it was deeply concerned by the persistent and systematic physical blocking of non-South Africans from accessing healthcare, including pregnant women, people living with HIV, chronic patients and children - particularly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
It called for immediate action by the National Department of Health and relevant Provincial Departments of Health to guarantee the right of access to healthcare for all, as enshrined in the country’s Constitution and the National Health Act.
“For several weeks now, anti-migrant groups have camped outside dozens of clinics and hospitals in Gauteng, preventing non-South Africans from entering public health facilities to seek medical care, irrespective of their legal documentation status.
“We also call for the appropriate health departments to work with communities to address the state of healthcare facilities and to find lasting solutions to these challenges, instead of apportioning blame on non-South Africans,” said Claire Waterhouse, MSF Southern Africa’s Director of Operational Support Unit.MSF launched an assessment to understand the severity of these blockages and the needs of those impacted, following reports of denial of access to care at locations across South Africa.
The team visited 15 hospitals and clinics in Gauteng, where they consistently witnessed patients being turned away from more than half of these healthcare facilities by groups of between two and 10 people, wearing civilian clothing.
Full article available in our paper.
Operation Dudula members in action during one of their campaigns against foreign nationals. (Pic: BBC)