SA Protestors Demand ID Verification For Patients At Kalafong Hospital, Vow To Block Foreigners

In
response
to
the
Gauteng
Department
of
Health’s
call
for
them
to
cease
obstructing
other
patients
and
to
stop
their
disruptive
actions,
the
protestors
have
made
it
clear
they
will
not
back
down.

Kagiso
Kekana,
the
leader
of
Concern
Tshwane
Residents,
said
that
the
recent
protests
were
part
of
their
effort
to
submit
a
memorandum
of
grievances
to
both
the
Health
MEC’s
office
and
the
hospital’s
CEO.
Said
Kekana:

This
is
not
going
to
be
a
once-off
process
but
a
continuous
process
until
we
win
this
battle.

Kekana
said
the
group
of
residents
believes
undocumented
immigrants
should
be
denied
access
to
healthcare
at
the
hospital,
citing
concerns
over
overcrowding
and
the
strain
on
the
health
budget.

He
claimed
that
they
want
to
exclude
foreign
nationals,
asserting
that
90%
of
the
hospital’s
patients
are
allegedly
undocumented
foreigners,
who
occupy
around
60%
of
the
available
beds.
Said
Kekana:

When
you
go
to
every
ward,
there
are
illegal
immigrants
and
our
healthcare
system
is
collapsing.
Our
doctors
and
nurses
are
being
overworked
because
of
the
influx
of
immigrants
and
they
are
forced
to
take
leave
unnecessarily.

David
Masedi
from
the
Atteridgeville
branch
of
Operation
Dudula
said
they
support
the
goal
of
removing
foreign
nationals
from
public
institutions,
describing
this
as
just
the
beginning
of
their
efforts
to
reclaim
resources
for
their
community.

However,
Gauteng
Health
Department
spokesperson
Motaletale
Modiba
said
access
to
healthcare
is
a
constitutional
right,
and
no
one
should
be
allowed
to
deny
this
right
to
others.

He
added
that
no
one
has
the
right
to
block
others
from
accessing
healthcare
services,
labelling
such
actions
as
illegal
and
deserving
of
strong
condemnation.